Fate Over
by Kalostaphor
Summary: He lies on the hill of swords, betrayed by his own ideals and living an eternal life full of regrets. His only wish is to prevent his past from reaching him. He will get more than he bargained for when he is summoned into the fourth Holy Grail War by the Master who would have eventually saved his life on that fated day which lead him down this path.
1. Prologue

I do not own fate/stay night or anything belonging to type moon.

Prologue: On the pedestal of fate

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><p>She ran.<p>

She ran as fast as she could.

She didn't have time to breathe, nor the time to sit around and relax. Even if her legs would break she wouldn't stop running as death itself was closing in on her.

A man in all black had come after her. She didn't know what happened to her family but she prays they are safe. The only reason she had survived for this long is because of the numerous bounded fields set up outside and in the manor she considered her home. They should have managed to stop the one behind her but he had broken through nearly all of them with ease. She could see glimpses of him not even being slowed down when faced with defenses that could overwhelm thousands of soldiers. She knew enough to recognize with that amount of skill he wouldn't have to use any of his tools or weapons he was carrying to catch her. Since she wasn't even trained to be an apprentice magus at the age of six.

She ran to the basement of her house, remembering there being a secret pathway that lead to one of her Father's private chambers. Knowing how her Father's mind worked, she was sure he had set up bounded fields there to protect it in case a thief tried to sneak in. If nothing else, it would give her time to think and rest while making a better escape plan rather, than just running around inside her house. Once again, even inside the fortified manor the assassin didn't slow down in his attempt to catch her, as she could hear the windows breaking, the walls and ceilings collapsing, and most of all the explosions that deafened her ears every time they went off. The only similarities between these sounds were that they were getting louder as the assassin slowly managed to catch up to her. If one were to make a documentary about this little girl's life, this would be the point in time where her fear and anxiety were at their peak.

In the dimly lit basement, she saw the entrance that lead to her Father's workshop. Getting inside, she blocked the door and hoped the last of the numerous defenses that remained in her house would at least stall the assassin long enough for her to figure out a way to stop him.

After she managed to catch her breath, she saw red markings on the top of her right hand. Thinking it was a bruise, she used her limited knowledge of healing magic to repair it. It didn't seem to work, even when all the other times she had hurt herself she managed to heal them with her magic just fine. Unlike all the other wounds she received in life, this one didn't cause her any pain. So if it wasn't an injury, what was it?

That didn't matter right now. She looked around the room to find another exit. The chamber was lit up by only a few candles, which would have caused trouble for a normal person trying to find his way around. However, being a magus, she had no trouble seeing everything inside the room. Looking around, all she saw were some desks, shelves, and a rather large magic circle on the floor. Not even a small gaping hole she could dig up to use as an escape route. She was trapped in this room and if she decided to unblock the workshop's door and try to run off somewhere else, the assassin would no doubt manage to catch up with her.

"Dammit." Instinctively she knew she would be killed as soon as the assailant broke through the final barriers leading to her.

However, in the place she was hiding in, she remembered her Father had left her a box with an intricate lock in the form of a puzzle. Looking around, she saw the box her Father told her he would leave in her care, that it would be the greatest gift she could receive from him and that it must be used wisely. Seeing as she had no other option but to trust what was left inside as her last hope, she frantically tried to open it.

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><p>Having been chosen earlier than he thought he would to participate in the Holy Grail War, and with an increased knowledge and oversight on knowing who would take part as his opponents as well, Kiritsugu Emiya had thought of an idea to further increase his chances of winning and finally attaining the world peace he desired.<p>

To simply wait for the war to start and take out the enemy Masters and Servants would be too simple for the man named the Magus Killer. No, he had a better idea, one that no other Master in the war would consider or even dare to think about. An act that would cause him to be the center of attention in this war if he was ever found out. He would kill the Masters before they could summon their Servants.

Though the problem that presented itself in this case was identifying who the Masters of this war would be. However, knowing the history behind the previous wars, coupled with the information he had received from the Einzbern in regards to working and representing them, he had a general idea of who his opponents would be and he had no doubts that families like the Matou and Tohsaka's would come into the fray. Other contestants such as the Magus Association would also be present, yet he couldn't do anything about them seeing as he had little idea about who they would choose. They weren't something he could target to take out of the contest before it even began.

Thus this left him with the choice of killing either the Matou family or the Tohsaka's. The Matou family could be called the 'weaker' of the two with an ever crippling family tree, but the biggest problem was the head of the family– Matou Zouken, someone who could be considered a monster; even if Kiritsugu would have destroyed his physical body he had no doubts that he would slither and find a way to come back to life.

Thus the most obvious and easiest family to take care of would be the Tohsaka's. The head of the family, Tokiomi Tohsaka, was not that large of a threat since he had taken the Magus Killer too lightly. Or rather he didn't expect to have the very thaumaturgy he depended on turned against him as his magic circuits were torn apart from the inside out. Now with most of the Tohsaka family gone, all that was left to take care of was the child that would eventually have taken Tokiomi's place to continue his family heritage.

Rin Tohsaka.

Originally, the current generation of the Tohsaka family had given birth to two very capable daughters. Then like always, the Magi would have to choose one heir to pass on their teachings too which lead to one child being discarded while the other was to continue on the tradition of raising a stronger Magus that would eventually dwarf their ancestors in skill and power.

It is not as if he held the girl in contempt or as a danger. Rather, this was a way to 'nullify' the alliance agreement the Matou's had with the Tohsaka's. If the Tohsaka family didn't even 'exist' after this point, then there would be no reason for the Matou to follow an agreement to help a deceased family. Although the Matou weren't the enemies he found the scariest in the war to come they would no doubt be another obstacle that would be a heavy burden and strain to take care of if they chose to fight him right from the get go.

He would have been easily able to take care of the girl and give her a painless death, but due to the numerous bounded fields and traps inside the Tohsaka's manor his original mission of taking care of things before anything got out of hand was now becoming an impossibility. He was sure sooner or later with all the mess he had created someone would peg him as the one who had done all this, even if he had completed his original task and managed to remove and hide most of the evidence that could be called a signature move in the way he conducted his attacks.

With his experience and the use of his magecraft, he could sense his target was no longer moving in long distances from room to room and chose to hide in an area in the basement level of the mansion. Even with the few magical defenses leading to this area of the Tohsaka's estate, all he had to do was physically destroy the door or a wall to get inside. Though seeing as how he didn't have proper explosives on him after having used most of them to get this deep into the manor, he would have to improvise to find a way inside.

* * *

><p>Swords.<p>

That's all there was in his world. An infinite amount of blades scattered throughout a never-ending wasteland with massive gears floating in the sky and thick smog polluting the air.

He only believed in one ideal, carrying it out to the very end. But when put into the role of acting out this ideal in the face of harsh reality, he had noticed the folly of his path and ended up regretting becoming a 'Hero of Justice'. Or rather, as others would say, a 'Super Hero'. One that would try to save everyone, and leave no one behind. Fighting for a world where no one had to die and where everyone could be happy.

But he knew that such a world did not exist, and that his dream was an impossibility that would never come true. Still he fought to achieve it, and in the end he was betrayed and killed for never questioning this belief.

But he did not care for the fact that he was killed by the very people he saved. Even if he only managed to save one life, he was happy with carrying on his Father's dreams. So before his demise, he chose to make a deal with Alaya to save those in front of him in exchange for becoming a Counter Guardian.

He thought that after his death he could save countless lives serving as mankind's protector. However, all of his thinking was for naught, as the only time a Counter Guardian is summoned isn't to save people, but to eliminate those who threaten the balance of the world.

There was no justice here. No soul that could be saved. No man, woman, or child that was not already damned. Only an untold amount of suffering and his job to be a 'cleaner' of a mess that was caused by the very people he wanted to protect. Just like that, the boy who wanted to see no one cry, could only see Humanity crying forever.

And so with no escape out of a fate worse than hell, his only wish was to be sent back to where it all began in the hopes that his alteration of the past could potentially change the future.

So he lies on the hill of swords, waiting for one's arrival...

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><p>If there was one thing Rin Tohsaka would curse right now, it was her luck that her Father had made an enchanted puzzle in the form of a lock to hide away whatever was in the box that should be able to save her life. Granted her Father didn't expect her to be in a life or death situation at such a young age and she took little to no time figuring out the correct answer to the puzzle. But she still had to be extra careful if she didn't want the box to explode on her if she put in the wrong answer. Or turn into a monster that tried to eat her. Fortunately her Mother had a general idea of how her Father made his puzzles. So just before she had told her to run away as far as she could, she had left her clues on how to solve it, which had significantly increased the speed at which she was able to slowly decode and open the lock.<p>

She could no longer hear the footsteps of the one after her. No doubt the assassin knew she was hiding in this room. Not even the bounded fields that hid it could fool any good magus into thinking there wasn't a way to enter the workshop. She knew that her time was running short and that the man in black would soon find a way to break in.

"Dammit, why did Father have to leave more than one puzzle?!" Having figured out and opened the lock to the box, Rin didn't expect another lock to be placed inside it, this time a magical one instead of the one that had confusing number dials she was having a hard time dealing with. She had an easier time dealing with things based on magic but still it was time consuming.

Crack.

The workshop's walls were starting to crack, pieces of the door she blocked off were chipping away, and the last of the remaining bounded fields were all but gone. However, for a magus of the Tohsaka, albeit one too early to pick up the name, this meant nothing, and Rin was able to keep her thoughts in control, even in the situation where her life was threatened by death knocking on the door. Literally.

"Al...right!" The enchanted lock put on the box broke, with her face sporting a joyful smile not fit for the situation, she opens it.

Only to find that all it had was a magically enchanted jewel and... the skin of some serpent?

Thinking that all of this was just a mistake, she took apart everything that was inside the box, hoping that her Father had secretly left her some powerful tool to help her against the assailant on the other side of the door. The fact that the clocks in the room were all erratically fluctuating didn't even register to her.

"Wh–at..." The box was empty. Even with the clocks still fluctuating around her, the only thing going through her mind was knowing that she was going to _die_.

No. She couldn't think like that. If this was her deathbed, she was going to go down with a Tohsaka's magus pride.

"Hah, to think this is what my Father was boasting about." She looked at the jewel in her hand. Granted, it's the most powerful jewel she had ever laid eyes on, with an untold amount of prana that would no doubt take her years to generate, but it would still not be enough to face a grown adult wielding dangerous weapons against her.

"Fine," the girl muttered. "You can try to kill me, but I won't die to you." Her voice grew louder with every word she spoke. "I absolutely won't be killed by you." She channeled nearly all her prana into the jewel now, preparing the most powerful attack she could. "I still have a life to live." She didn't notice the large magic circle on the floor of the chamber was glowing. "I still haven't become a first-rate magus yet. I still haven't gone to the clock tower yet." She heard the door about to break. "If my life ends here I won't ever be able to make my Father proud of me. I can't die to some thug who breaks into people's homes."

The magic circle from before was now glowing bright red, with powerful winds bustling out. However to Rin, the only thing that registered in her mind was she was going to be killed any second.

"If you're going to try to kill me..." The clocks in the room began fluctuating even more than before; the magic circle might as well have been as bright as the sun. The heavy winds gushing forth indicated that a powerful magic not belonging to the girl was now at work, procuring something.

"Then I'll show you why the Magi of Tohsaka are to be feared!" As she uttered her last words, a flash of bright light encompassed the room and the door came crashing down.

* * *

><p>The Magus Killer didn't expect that a pathway enforced by stone, steel, and wood would be so much trouble for him. Granted he was almost trying to break in bare handed through it. Regardless, the last barrier had finally fallen. As he looked around the basement all he could see was... smoke?<p>

The entire room seemed to have been filled with a cloud of smoke. This meant little to the Magus Killer; he would still try to give the girl a painless death, as he wasn't the type to instill fear or suffering on others in their last moments. So he brought up his weapon and waited for the mist to clear in order to get a good shot...

And saw a man in black armor and a fluttering red cape bolting towards him at inhuman speed.

"What?!" Kiritsugu Emiya was a cold calculating man. He was rarely surprised by what happened around him and took the loss of life as a necessary cause for his ideals. Hence he could be described as a machine living out only one purpose, not caring for anything or anyone else. This meant that very little if anything at all surprised him in life, though one could make an exception when said man in black armor rushed at him dual wielding black and white blades, when all he had expected to take care of was a small girl in the chamber.

Up and left. The slashes were aimed to hit his torso and neck. As he saw how fast the man in front of him was, he knew he would be no match against him in close quarters.

Which meant that he would just have to use his skills as a Magus to beat him.

'Time alter, _Double Accel!_' Even with the use of his Magic Crest that held the powerful ability of innate time control, he realized within milliseconds that he still wouldn't be able to dodge the strikes. So he brought up his left arm to block them instead.

Splatter.

"Kugh!" His left arm disconnected from his body right up from the shoulder. The sheer power put into the attack he blocked caused it to fly to the other side of the room. This man was fast— too fast for a normal human being. With them being just a few feet apart he could make out his facial features: tan skin, spiked white hair, and eyes the color of steel. This man didn't give off the feeling of someone who was an ordinary human, and in that brief moment he realized he was battling a Servant.

The Knight in front of him hadn't kept up the speed of his attack but instead slowed down to almost a halt as if he saw something he shouldn't have. Being who he was he couldn't let an opportunity to save himself in this situation slip by. As it was, the Magus Killer had used up most of his explosives to get this deep into the manor. Keyword being 'most.'

As the smoke had partly cleared in the brief time of clashing with the Servant in front of him, he could see the silhouette of the small girl he was after. If his assumptions were correct, then the girl had somehow managed to summon a Servant to save her life, which meant that this Servant would prioritize her over everything else. With his remaining right hand he managed to hurl one of the few explosive grenades left on him towards her.

"Tch." The Knight in red muttered and went to protect the girl from the blast instead of finishing him off.

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><p>Rin Tohsaka had no idea what just happened. In seconds the assassin that was after her life had managed to break through the final defenses and smashed open the chamber doors. Then all she saw was a flash of light encompass the room. Unable to make out any details from all the smoke filling the chamber, all she knew was that the light came from the magic circle. Looking there she could see a tall figure standing in the middle of where the light had emerged from.<p>

Before she was able to do anything, the figure moved faster than a bullet train past her, disappearing off to where the assassin had managed to break in. Looking to where it went, she heard the brief sound of steel meeting flesh, and soon after saw blood splattered across the workshop walls. Then she saw a metal ball thrown in front of her, clattering on its way as it hit the ground constantly, with that red and black figure coming back from the mist, rushing straight towards her.

'I guess that's it then...'

She didn't know how it came to this but she knew this was the end for her. Exhausted and unable to stand up anymore, she could barely keep herself awake and could only look to where her doom was approaching.

A tall figure was running straight towards her; she couldn't make out much of the details except that it was a man in black and red garments. Powerless to even move now, she closed her eyes and accepted her fate, resigning to it without any fear.

But then she was surprised when she felt herself being lifted. Opening her eyes, she saw that the tall man was holding her in a princess carry.

"Eh?" Was all she could say before she was moved in a flash as the one holding her jumped up high enough to reach her house's bedroom. She should have been hurt from the impact of going through all those ceilings the tall man just blasted through. But she couldn't even feel a scratch on her, and couldn't see any injury inflicted on the one holding her either.

In the moment the man holding onto her reached her bedroom, an explosion went off in the chamber she inhabited just a few seconds ago.

Being confused as she was, the only thing Rin knew is that this tall man had saved her life. That and she was feeling tired. Tired enough that she just wanted to go to sleep...

"Good grief. Looks like I've been drawn in to a troublesome summoning." The one holding her spoke in a sarcastic tone. "So, I guess you're my Master?"

Those were the last words Rin heard before falling unconscious.

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><p>AN:

Hi there readers, and welcome to my very first fanfic for F/SN, or rather my very first fanfic for anything.

Usually I'm the type to read most of the time and not the one to write. Though seeing as there was a lack of rather good fate/zero fanfics involving Archer being summoned (IMO that is) I thought I might as well give mine a shot.

Seeing as how I couldn't find a good story that didn't have Rin and Archer being key participants in the 4th Holy Grail War. With Archer being the main player and not bogged down by petty masters following their own plans and eventually ending up in the same position they would be in F/Z. I decided to take control of fate and make the Magus Killer do a few things before the war even started.

There is probably a good reason somewhere out there why in F/Z Kiritsugu just didn't 'off' the Tohsaka's to make whatever Servant they would summon be turned over to an amateur who would have a lot less likely chance of winning than Tokiomi would. Though seeing as how I re-read the LN and watched F/Z and couldn't find even a hint of WHY the Magus Killer didn't just go do it (disregard the defenses of the Tohsaka manor). Though Fate fans will probably have a good answer for me. I decided to make an event of it actually happening and Rin taking up the leading role in this war.

It took me quite a good while to write a short prologue and had to trash many ideas/sentences/and even paragraphs just making it good enough to be presented without having it feel too 'rushed'.

You might have also noticed I have gone and done broken the nasuverse when I had a 6 year old Rin trying to open the box that Tokiomi would have left her, and that it should have taken her quite a few years to even solve the puzzle to get it open. But rest assured I wont be completely dismantling the nasuverse and making too many of my own rules into it.

I am going to try to stay as faithful as I can (though do remember that type moon can be VERY vague on the things they write in their stories). While still having a good story that wont bore you out of your minds. If you are getting bored than do write a review stating the problems in my writing style. If possible for my first fanfic, I am going to try to check spelling errors and grammatical problems considering I don't have a beta reader as of yet. Then probably fix them even if my chapters were released months ago.

This story will probably be somewhat of an AU (or probably completely AU seeing as how the plot shapes up), and it probably won't have a follow up to the 5th Holy Grail War considering I'm going to be making MAJOR changes to the original plot of F/Z. Seeing as how Archer appearing and Tokiomi being dead before the war started is enough of a butterfly effect to throw all sorts of things into chaos.

No Servant status' for this one, probably make one for Archer in the next though. Next chapter, I will probably show how much different this Grail War is to the original one in F/Z. I'll see if I can finish up the chapter in a week or two as well, as I'm not going take months of my time releasing chapters here however it does take quite a bit of time writing fanfics properly as to not completely destroy the original lore of the story and still make it entertaining to read. So we will see.

Oh, if you feel the chapter is to short/fast paced, don't worry. This is only for the Prologue, things will be explained in the next few chapters. In the mean time enjoy the prologue and have fun imagining what is to come.

On a very important side note: was Rin 16 or 18 at the beginning of FS/N? It's one of those things Nasu doesn't want to give me an idea about...


	2. Chapter 1

I do not own fate/stay night or anything belonging to type moon.

Chapter 1: Beneath the lines

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><p>"Here I thought I would see him again for this war. But to see him just die like that."An old man walked about in a dead silent hall. All an observer could hear was the thumping of a cane and the eerie noises of something squishy and slimy moving about.<p>

"I suppose it is my duty to tell my son about this." Having his familiar's eyes all around Fuyuki, especially at the home of one he considered to have a 'close' relationship with, he already knew all the events that had took place that night, including the summoning of a particular Servant.

Reaching a room, he saw the one who would fight for him to win the Grail slouched up in a corner with his head down, holding onto his right hand. He had no doubt that he was now fully under his control. Even if he gave him the information, there was nothing he could do at this point to back out.

"I have interesting news for you, Kariya." The old man didn't bother to hide his smile while looking down on his family member.

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><p>Fire.<p>

Flames burned bright here. Everything she could see was scorched as if to leave nothing to waste. Even without natural lighting the flames burned bright enough to make it seem as if it was a sunny day.

But this was not a sunny day.

'_...Where am I?_'

Something was moving. No; her vision was moving by itself. It became evident that she was not in control of what she saw here.

"Listen... Rin..."

'_Who is that speaking? It sounds like Mother_...'

"Take...▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅..."

Why couldn't she hear Mother anymore? There was something else that blocked out the sound. Was it static? The images she saw and the voices she heard were not matching up. Something was clearly off here.

"I...▅▅▅▅...you...never ▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅."

This wasn't static. The pitch of the noise was too high. If she listened closely she could figure out that she was hearing something other than her Mother's voice.

"▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅."

For some reason, she couldn't bring herself to listen in. There was something 'wrong' about these noises. She felt if she listened too closely, she would not be herself anymore.

"Now listen...▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅... and ... ▅▅▅!"

What was that? There was something looming in the horizon; It looked... malicious... no, more than that...

"▅▅▅!"

Something was repeatedly being told to her now. The other voices she kept hearing blocked out everything else. But wait, those voices... weren't they screams?

"R▅▅!"

That was definitely Mother's voice. But why were there people screaming? What was that tower she saw in the horizon? What was that thing above it?

"R▅N!"

Her vision was becoming clearer now. The screams that could barely be heard had increased in sound. She also saw it in the distance now, a black tower with a sick looking ball hovering above it. And right next to her, she could see... people?

Wait... weren't those...

"**RUN!**"

...

...She couldn't hear anything anymore...

...Everything turned to black...

...That's right. This was all just a bad dream...

...When she wakes up she will be back with her... Where was this bright light coming from?

"Who forgot to turn off the lights?" She found herself sleeping comfortably in a bed. She spoke as if it was like any other day, not even noticing that she was still wearing the same outdoor clothes from yesterday.

Still hazy from waking up, Rin saw that the light was coming from the other side of her bedroom's tall window. Noting that it was morning now, she stretched out her arms and legs while letting out a long yawn.

"Then of course they tell me not to use magic in the house when I can't even reach that far." She could manage to close it, but it would take more than just her size and strength as a child to do it. Standing up and getting out of bed, she went over to close it and get some more sleep.

"Oi, girl. I'd watch where I was going if I were you." Only to hear the sound of someone's deep voice.

"Huh?" She looked around to see what this person was talking about. Her attention was brought to how messy her room was, or rather how the walls and parts of the ceiling were missing. As her mind caught up to what she saw, she looked down to see a giant gaping hole where the bedroom floor should be, which was right in front of her.

"Eh?" She slowly backed away out of fear of falling into the hole from which she could see the basement of her house, with her tired mood slowly turned into one of shock. "Eh? Eeeh? EEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHH?!" With her hands holding the side of her head, she continued. "Wh-What happened to my room? Who's going to pay for all the damages? Wait... Don't tell me I have to clean up all of this?!"

"Heh, and here I thought you would be a bit smarter than that." That voice spoke in that annoying tone again.

"You." She looked around to see a tall man with tan skin. "Who are you and what are you doing in my room? No, more importantly, what are you doing in my house?!"

The tall figure let out a sigh. "So this is my reward for saving someone huh? Well I guess I wasn't one with good fortune to begin with. Regardless, you should really drop the haughty attitude and have something to eat."

'_Haughty?_' Rin would have questioned him over his use of terms in reference to her, until her attention was brought to the plate that the man was holding onto. Special gourmets of all types were put together with eggs and bread. It was not her usual serving but it seemed that he put quite a lot of effort into making it.

"How do I know you haven't done anything to the food?" she asked since simply accepting snacks or food from a stranger is not common to her, especially not one that found himself in her bedroom.

"Girl, if I wanted to do anything to you, I would have done so long ago." The man replied in a bored tone.

Wait. Long ago?

What happened yesterday? When she finished her studies she went to go play with her mother. Then most of the lights went off. Then... She...

"Don't force yourself. For now you should be happy that the situation didn't degrade any further than it could have." As he said that, he put down the plate holding the breakfast next to her.

As annoying as he was, what he was saying held weight. She could figure out what happened yesterday later. The more important topic would be to figure out who the person in front of her was. She slowly started eating the food while still holding suspicions towards what he wanted.

"This... is good?" Only to be surprised by its taste. The texture and flavoring were better than anything she had before. Moreover, the moist and thin layerings only added to the aroma of what she was eating.

Could bread and eggs really be this good?

Catching her attention before she became inattentive to everything around her, the tall man spoke. "Nice to see I can get complimented for a change. I guess we should now get down to business."

"Who are you?" She spoke in a friendly manner, her previous animosity towards him gone as she ate one of the best meals she ever tasted in life.

"Oh, now we get to introduce each other, girl? You can call me Shirou." He still spoke in that irritating sarcastic tone. Not that she could care right now considering she was having such a good meal.

"Shirou? But that's not your full name." Was he being secretive about who he was on purpose? It was hard for her to think about such questions while still eating up all the food that 'Shirou' had given her.

"Unfortunately I can't tell you my full name simply because I don't remember it."

"Hah?! You don't remember your full name?!" Having almost choked on her food, she heard something that an average person would consider asinine. Not even toddlers could forget their names after having been addressed by it from birth. But a grown adult forgetting his full name? That was absurd.

Shirou now spoke with a disinterested face. "Right. Seems even with me being tied down to the world and being bonded to you, the summoning's ritual was incomplete. Not that I am surprised."

"Huh? Summoning?" At this point, Rin might be described as oddly cute when she had bread sticking out of her mouth and a puzzled face.

"Maybe I should have started off with mentioning the 'Holy Grail War' first."

Suddenly the world froze for her. The 'Holy Grail War'. The war her Father was supposed to fight in. Other than that, she had little information of what happened in such a 'war'. Except that Masters go out and fight with their summoned Servants...

"Shirou. You couldn't be." The puzzle was finally put together.

"Right. I am the Servant you summoned for this 'Holy Grail War'." There was no need to talk in round‐about ways now. Even with what little she knew, it was clear that this person was not here to betray her later on. Though him being her Servant could only mean she was a Master. Then that meant...

"Shirou, wha-"

"Hold on Master. It seems someone has decided to pay us a visit." As soon as he finished his words, the Servant in black armor stormed out to the front doors of the manor.

"Hey, wait!" Dropping whatever bits of the meal she still wanted to finish, she followed after the red cape.

* * *

><p>It was about three years ago when he was notified of the ritual called 'Heaven's Feel'. A ritual where people fight, kill, and die over a cup that will grant any wish. The only reason he knew such information was because he was chosen to participate in such a war. Being an executor, he has dealt with magi and their magic, though he had never really understood or cared about how their mysteries worked. But then he was pulled into this ritual where most of his enemies would be Magi, with Servants who could be considered Familiars holding inhuman powers and abilities. It was no wonder he started to think of researching more on these subjects as to not be completely blind when put into the fray.<p>

Luckily, or unluckily for Kirei Kotomine, Tokiomi Tohsaka had noticed the red markings on his right hand. Believing that the Grail had granted him 'two servants and six command seals' he took in the former Church's worker to be an apprentice under him. For Kirei this just meant being sent on another magi hunt, with this one involving far more powerful 'familiars' than one can comprehend. Even if he were to die in this war, the fear or excitement others would feel in such a situation didn't even graze him.

Having finished further studying abroad about magicians, thaumaturgy, and general magecraft, Kirei returned to his Tutor. He already knew with the studies he was assigned that he best fit the category of a spiritual doctor, someone who used spiritual invocation to heal wounds. It was said that this is not even considered a branch of thaumaturgy by some as the healing was done not through one's own flesh, but through one's own soul. As unfitting as it was for one in his line of work.

Having reached the street block where the Tohsaka's manor was, he felt something odd about the entire place. It was not as if something was here, but as if something was missing.

He already knew how to detect most bounded fields that were set up, especially those of a place he visited regularly. But for some reason the bounded fields he should be able to feel were no longer detectable. Either that meant the bounded fields had been given tuning to make them more efficient and to hide their presence, or they had been removed.

Either case was a sign for something having turned for the worse.

He heightened his senses while still keeping at his normal speed, proceeding towards the front gates of the manor. When getting there, though, what he saw was not what he expected. He expected something to have gone wrong, yes, but not the entire mansion to be turned into a complete wreck, with holes all over the walls, and the outer garden looking like a crater. Other damage– like the windows being smashed and the doors being destroyed– was not needed to tell him that someone had attempted to attack the Tohsaka's manor.

If Tokiomi were to see the state of his home, he would no doubt be extremely displeased. Whatever he would plan to do after that would be a mystery to the executor, considering his arrogance could take him anywhere if he got angry enough. That didn't, of course, answer the question of where was Tokiomi in all of this mess.

While still having his guard up, he entered through the broken gates of his Teacher's home.

Then he sensed someone approaching behind him.

"Hoh? You're not half bad for someone who walks around in the Church's garments." A mocking tone. It seemed whoever was behind him did not even care that he was spotted before he could confront him.

"Who are you?" Now facing him he could get a good look at his face and demeanor. Tan skin, white hair, grey eyes, and most importantly a wry smile indicating the confidence the man had for himself.

"That's the question I should be asking you. It's not every day you see a man representing God's will come around this corner of the town."

"I have affiliations with one who owns this home." There was no reason to lie, however that did not mean he would keep listening to someone who didn't answer his questions. "Are you responsible for this?"

"Some mighty questions from someone who still hasn't named himself. Would you want to believe the criminal would stay at the crime scene long after the deed was done?"

Long after? So did that mean that the manor was attacked hours ago? Even if Tokiomi was as dense and arrogant as he was, he would not leave the mansion in shambles, at least repairing it to the point that it didn't look like a terrorist had bombed the entire place from a normal human's perspective. Considering not even an authority worker had shown up to inspect the place, nor did he hear anything in the news about this while getting here, he suspected that the man in front of him might have done something to make it seem like nothing had happened to this area.

Although it was expected of all magi to not let the dealings of magic out into the normal world, for a stranger to be here at the right time to help out in such a way, one who wore rather unusual apparel as well, was too suspicious.

"No. If what you say is true then the obvious conclusion would be that you're not culpable for this." Expecting another roundabout answer, he asked another question to test him. "Where is Tokiomi Tohsaka?"

Whatever way he answered, he could no longer let the man in front of him go. He knew something that he didn't. It was obvious from the way he would intentionally leave most of his questions unanswered and respond back with more questions. He needed all the information he could get to figure out what happened here and until then, he would treat the one in front of him with hostility. If it came to getting information by force then he would have no qualms about hurting him. However, even as experienced as he was, every fiber of his body was telling him the person in front of him was dangerous.

Just in case anything went wrong, he prepared to take out his Black Keys...

"...Tohsaka?" Only to hear the man in black armor murmuring as if contemplating something else entirely.

"WAIT!" A small girl shouted out in the distance, still running towards the two men who were facing each other. "Kirei's not a bad guy! Don't hurt him!"

"Kirei?" The tanned man whispered to himself again. This time his attitude had changed completely with a rather serious questioning look on his face.

"Rin. What happened here? Who is this man?" He ignored the mysterious man for now. Seeing as Tokiomi was apparently not in his home, he suspected that something grievous must have happened.

"Ah. So it was Rin." By now it seemed like the one in black armor was talking to himself.

"That guy is my Servant!" As she said that, the executor's impassive face turned to a mildly surprised one. A Servant being summoned days before the Holy Grail War started? This was not something he was informed about. Rather, how could the girl of all people summon a Servant? It couldn't be that she became a participant, could it?

'_Impossible._' Having focused his vision on her right hand, he was given the answer to something he did not expect.

Having finally drawn close enough to the two adults, the small girl put her hands on her knees from the exhaustion of nonstop sprinting to reach them. Her figure shook erratically as she said her next words. "I heard something loud go off at the front gate. Then someone had broken in through the front door. Then...then...Mother..." As she had her head down, no one could see the expression on her face.

"I know." As she spoke, the girl's figure did not reflect well in contrast to the pleasant day. "I know what happened." Now standing upright, with droplets of water falling down from her head, it was painfully obvious to anyone what took place here.

While the atmosphere became increasingly unpleasant. The one in priest clothing silently thought to himself: If the Tohsaka's Heiress was done in, then what about Tokiomi?

"But it's not fair." The girl was indeed crying. However, unlike other children her age, she did not scream or shout out her cries. It's what one would call a silent sobbing.

Disinterested but understanding of the situation, the man who served under God approached the girl.

"Kotomine Kirei. Can I trust you with this girl's life?"

Only to be stopped in his tracks from the man who seemed to have been lost in thought only moments ago.

It was a loaded question. The Servant in black armor gave him a look of disdain, for what reason he did not know. He could even feel minuscule amounts of blood lust focused on him. The only thing that bothered the soon ‐to‐ be Master however, was when did he learn his last name?

"If you mean that I will take care of the girl, I was already given that responsibility in case something had happened to the former head of the family." He didn't go on to explain any further. Tokiomi was fond of speaking about his life, eventually bringing up the part about his lineage and talking about should anything have happened to him, he would trust the Executor of all people to look after his family. It was no doubt due to the relationship with his own Father that the archetype of a Magus trusted him so.

Believing that the Servant simply hated him from the start, he didn't expect his attitude to 'loosen' as if he heard something he did not expect from him.

"Maybe I've been looking at this from the wrong perspective," the Servant mused to himself. Then turning his back to him, and the girl who was still crying. He spoke again while disappearing into his spirit form. "I will scout the perimeter to see if any traps were left behind. The bodies are in the ground floor to the left of the dining hall. I expect you to do your job, Priest."

Bodies? Oh, so Tokiomi was killed. His Father would have to clean up the mess considering this had involved the 'Heaven's Feel' ritual. Overlooking the derisive tone the servant gave him, an assassin would be hard pressed to enter such a fortified manor with numerous bounded fields and defenses installed inside and outside. Whoever could manage to kill a rather powerful magus in his own backyard had to be exceptionally skilled. The question was, who could have done it?

* * *

><p>The night that his attack had commenced was a huge success to him. Having managed to get rid of what he considered one of the three most threatening opponents he would face in the upcoming war, it would no doubt be easier for him to now obtain the wish he wanted from the cup that could grant anything. Even if he lost an arm for it, managing to peg the Master of a Servant, who was bound to a child, was worth all the pain he was feeling. Knowing the identity of the Master made them even easier targets to deal with in the future.<p>

He was not being hunted by the enigmatic Servant, and he couldn't understand why. He went in solo for this mission, simply because others would have slowed him down. Still, even if he had backup of any sort, a Heroic Spirit should have been easily able to get rid of him if he wanted to, even if the Servant he fought had to take his time to put his Master in a safe place. Not wishing to test his luck on how long it would take for the Servant to chase after him, he hurried to where Maiya was waiting.

Maiya was a few blocks away to pick him up right after the completion of his mission. However, she was immediately worried over the fact that the Magus Killer, of all people, came back bleeding and without a left arm. Although the pain would often dull a man to complete standstill, it was not a problem for one who had been in countless situations of getting hurt over things like this.

Brushing off the worry of his accomplice, they made their way to the airport to take the flight to Germany to receive the most powerful gift the Einzbern can give him to help him in the war to come. While on the way, the one known to the world notoriously as the Magus Killer wrote down all he could about the servant he would be seeing in a few days when the 'Holy Grail War' commenced.

* * *

><p>(Servant's will be revealed through Kiritsugu Emiya's POV for now):<p>

Class: ?

Master: Rin Tohsaka

Sex: Male

Alignment: Neutral

Strength: D

Endurance: C

Agility: C

Magical Energy: D

Luck: E

Noble Phantasm: ?

Class Skills: ?

Class Abilities:

Magic Resistance: D

Independent Action: B

A/N:

Despite this chapter being almost the same in length. It took me way to long to finish considering I was working on it for far longer than my prologue. Though I have to say it is mostly because I had to establish Rin's character here. At first I thought she should go through the "deny it as hard as you can and come to realize it later" phase about her parents. But than I realized I would have a Sakura 2.0 so I scrapped that idea immediately.

I honestly thought the harder character to write here would be Rin (By now I am just going to go with she was 16 in F/SN, so she will be 6 here). Having to make her character with out making her feel 'Un-Rin' like was what I thought to be the hardest thing. But than I had to include Kirei in and oh god. Making a believable 'Pre-Emiya-Fascinated-Kirei' is hard as hell. Though I think I pulled it off successfully here.

I am still on the ropes of having Archers class revealed to Kiritsugu. Although reading F/SN Shirou was told about every servant's class as soon as he met them (that and they are painfully obvious to tell by their appearance (AKA berserker)). I don't think Kiritsugu would go "Ahah, since you use dual wielding blades(Or that you have independent action) you're clearly Archer!" kind of thing. Though I might be wrong and the class of a servant is revealed as soon as you see them. If so I will correct it later seeing as its not a big deal right now.

While talking about Archer. You might have noticed the only thing different about him from F/SN is his Magical Energy. Although Rin is a very capable 6 year old Magus. She can't hold a candle to her older version when supplying prana to a servant. Since Archer already comes with really crappy stats. I don't consider him a powerful enough to have his stats lowered than they already are. Now if Rin had summoned a really powerful saber class, than of course I would have lowered ALL the stats to fit a 6 year old Rin's magic circuit capacity.

That and having a EMIYA that can 'noble spam' people to death is insanely OP. The only reason I feel he didn't go that far in FS/N is probably because of Shirou.

Hopefully I wont have to spend too long in pre-holy grail war exposition. It will all depend on if I feel I haven't explained or established a character enough that he fits as a OC in an AU.

Talking about AU's, I think I have decided at this point that this will be a near complete AU. So don't expect to see too many similarities between F/Z. Even if most of the characters you meet will be the same people.

Other than that, I am off to writing the next chapter. No betareader as of yet either unfortunately, though I consider my self good enough to check my spelling and grammar enough to not make it cringe worthy to read. I don't know where I will be keeping chapter length's for now. Though I guess for now it will be 4000 word mark for each chapter. As always, have fun imagining what is to come.

Edit:

It has come to my attention that someone has wisely noticed that I had EMIYA not tell anyone that he is 'Shirou' (Not even Rin, dear god). Considering this is a complete AU, I should have noticed this and just have EMIYA tell his first name instead of his last. Though the only reason I had kept it off the line is because nobody actually addressed EMIYA as 'Shirou' in FS/N. Though now thinking about it, it was probably because there were 2 Shirou's and addressing each other by different names was much simpler.

So after having noticed my silliness, I have gone and corrected it. It really was a small part of the story but a significant issue by itself none the less. The cut out part of where EMIYA doesn't tell his name will be posted below here.

That and I fixed a few grammatical errors. Seeing as I have messaged a few people to betaread my chapters before they come. My overuse of periods probably came from the English translated version of F/HA and F/SN. Damn visual novels ruining my writing skills.

* * *

><p>FO Choice #1, Archer doesn't tell his name:

"Who are you?" Having loosened up from her defense she starts of talking in a friendly manner.

"Oh now we get to introduce each other girl? You can call me Archer." Yet he still talks in that irritating sarcastic tone. Not that she could care right now considering she was having such a good meal.

"Archer? But that's not your real name." Was he being secretive about who he was on purpose? It seems it was hard for her to think about such questions while still eating up all the food that 'Archer' had given her.

"Unfortunately I can't tell you my real name simply because I don't remember it."

"Hah?! You don't remember your name?!" Almost choking herself. She heard something that one would consider asinine. Not even toddler's could forget their names after having been addressed by it from birth. But a grown adult forgetting his name? That was absurd.

Later that day...Kotomine Kirei arrives...

"Who are you?"

"I don't have to tell you anything"

As a pissed off Kirei is annoyed by Archer, he attacks with his Black Keys.

Archer noticing this, prepares to defend himself.

"ARCHER, STOP!"

As Rin calls out, a command seal is used. Archer cannot move and is forced to a standstill, he can only watch as his death approaches him.

SPLAT

Archer dies.

DEAD END

...Should I also give Archer a Tiger Dojo considering who he is? Oh well. This isn't meant to be taken seriously, and was my attempt at a small joke anyway.


	3. Chapter 2

I do not own fate/stay night or anything belonging to type moon.

Chapter 2: Under the night

* * *

><p>He was going to save Sakura, by winning the Grail for Zouken, using the disgusting form of the magic he had first left his family for.<p>

He did not care about the pain it inflicted on him. He already knew that soon after the 'Heaven's Feel' ritual was finished he would no longer be in this world. But by then he would have saved Aoi from the suffering she received from being with Tokiomi. All he had to do was win the Grail, take care of Tokiomi, and free Sakura. Then he could see Aoi genuinely smile again when the sisters would be reunited. He would see them play in the park one last time, and then he would pass away with no regrets.

Then why did Tokiomi die? He was supposed to take care of him. He would have easily been able to deal with the magus he gave away his love too. Then how did he die? If anyone was going to deal with him, it should have been him.

That's acceptable he guessed; all he had to do now then was win the Grail. Free Sakura, and reunite her with her Mother and Sister. Even if Tokiomi was gone, he would still be there to the end. To support the family he would give everything and anything too.

But then why did Aoi die? She was not supposed to die. She was going to have Sakura back when the Grail War was over. She was supposed to have her children back together. And then they would become one big happy family.

Of course, this is all wrong.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

She was going to be happy, she was going to have her children back. She was going to once again smile like she did all those years back. So how could she die? She was not supposed to die, because if she dies-

'_Who did I do all this for?_'

...No, that is also wrong.

She is not dead, she is still alive. All he has to do is free Sakura, and reunite her with her Mother. If he just went to go and check up on her, he will find her there with Rin. That's right, he just has to go check up on them and see if they are all right. Aoi can't die, she would never die. Because if Aoi dies, how could Rin survive?

* * *

><p>It was night time by now. How long was she in this room? Just days before where she used to sleep looked much different than it did now. Nothing much changed from the night of the attack, the windows were nearly all broken or smashed open and the furniture was in a assorted mess; closely resembling the view of an abandoned house. The ceiling had been reduced to rubble, allowing one to see the moon and the stars freely. And instead of her usual bedroom floor, the large hole made at the night of the attack was still there. Looking into it she could see the basement where everything in her life had changed. She didn't know if it was for the better or worse. All she knew was that she was still alive, and her parents were not.<p>

She did not even care about going to school today. After all, who could repeat their usual daily routine when their home was destroyed and their guardians were taken away from them? Even if she was a magi, she would be hard pressed to go to school without the depressed atmosphere she carries around her now.

She remembers when she would be in her study room, constantly working on improving her magecraft. When she was stuck or in need of help, her father would be there to show her the right path. Then when she was done, she would go to her mother. She would talk to her, she would play with her, she would do fun stuff together with her. Now, though, she was all alone. What was she supposed to do now? Who was she supposed to go to comfort her when she felt this isolated?

"It's cold." The solitude of being in her bedroom all alone was getting to her now. The cold, harsh breeze that came in from the broken walls made her shiver. Even with a prepared blanket left by her Servant next to her. She didn't even have the willpower to grab it to cover herself, knowing she would eventaully fall sick to the freezing temperature if she remained as she was.

"You know that's why I left you the blanket right? I didn't know children this age were oblivious to the obvious." Hearing that mocking tone, the girl clumped up in her bed loses some of her dispirited attitude. Instead it is replaced by her usual demeanor of being crass with her new attendant.

"So what? It's not like I'm bothering you or anything. And why are you even here? Didn't I tell you long ago to go clean up the house if you have nothing better do?" Just before she had locked herself in her room, she told her new 'Servant' to go fix all the damage that was done to the manor.

"I would do that, but considering I have been working on it for so long, I thought I might as well see what my cute little master was doing."

Not knowing whether it was an insult or compliment due to how the servant in red spoke, she didn't know what to say. "If you're wondering if I am in the mood for your jokes I'm not." So she took it as his way of making humor and brushed it off.

"Well I can't just leave some one alone who looks like she would die of starvation." Once again he was holding on to a plate full of delicious food. At this point the girl just assumed all servants came with extremely good cooking skills to not leave their masters displeased with their presence when they aren't fighting.

"Fine, just leave it here and go do something else."

"Alright, then I'll leave it and sit next to you." Only to hear him defy the order and proceed to do what he wanted. Really, were all servants completely unable to follow even small instructions?

"You're really annoying you know that?" Rin mused.

"Wouldn't be the first time that was said to me." Despite his sarcastic remarks, she let him sit down next to her and started to eat the meal that would serve as dinner.

Rather than continuing to keep her churlish attitude towards her Servant, she moved into a serious and slightly depressed tone while eating up her dinner. "Shirou... What would you do?"

Starting with a chuckle, he spoke in his usual sarcastic tone. "If we're talking about your laundry, I didn't clean it since you didn't tell me to."

Rin screamed with her muffled voice from all the food in her mouth. "I'm not talking about that you idiot! Why would you even bring that up?"

Talking back in a joking manner now, the Servant continued, "Well, considering your wardrobe had been crushed under debris, I thought it might be a good time to tell you to buy some new clothes."

"Hmph, I can just buy new clothes whenever I want. After all I am the head... of the Tohsaka family now." Saying her last words the girl went back to her dispirited atmosphere.

As he sighed, the servant in red gave out his next lines. "If you want my advice, all I can do is tell you a story."

"Huh? A story? Like a real life story?" Now interested in what her servant had to say, she had lost most of her depressing attitude.

"Well, it's a story from my life, so take what you wish from it." Knowing what little she knew about him; Even if she refused to listen, it didn't seem like he would care and continue on as if rambling to himself.

"There was a day in my life where everything had disappeared. Even what I used to be and who I could have been. I was sure at that moment I had nothing to live for." Despite the rather saddening scripture of his story, the man held on to a light-hearted smile as he continued.

"But then I was saved, and by being saved I was jealous of my savior. Because he had made an expression as if he had saved himself." The look on his face had changed to an impassive one by now, even when the story seemed to be taking a turn to a happier ending.

"Seeing that, all I could do was copy what he did. Believing that if I saved people like he did, I could also be happy." While one would expect someone to be happy with this kind of conclusion, the Servant had completely lost his smile and instead it had turned into a frown.

"But." The Servant now seemed to be unwilling to say his next words, as if he would be driven to madness if he continued on.

His hands had tightened into fists, and she could not understand why. But before she could ask, she heard the footsteps of someone approaching her room.

"I apologize for interrupting this conversation, but I have done as you ask." The executor in Priest's clothing had come back. "They have now been placed into the cemetery. However it seems that I was asked to tell you to come visit the Church."

Knowing what this was about, the girl asked, "This is about the 'Holy Grail War' isn't it?"

Still holding on to the soulless expression he had on most of the time he responded. "I don't know. All I was told was that you should visit the church as soon as you were told."

Having already finished her meal the girl responded while hiding her true feelings. "Alright, I'll go visit it right now." Removing any dirt she had on her old clothes she jumped out of bed and walked with a serious posture and attitude.

"Let's go, Shirou." She called out to her servant, even knowing at this point he would follow her regardless of what she said.

"Rin." But as she heard her servant say her name, she looked at him to see he was holding on to the pendant her father had left her.

"Shirou, you were holding on to that for me?" How could she forget? It was her Father's memento to her, something that had just saved her life only a day ago.

"It seemed like it was something important. That and it has more magical energy than you could create by the time this war ends. You should hold on to it." He dropped the pendant onto the small girl's hands.

Looking at the pendant, she had snapped out of her mournful attitude. She was a magus of Tohsaka; how could she let the gifts that her parents had left her go to waste as she went on to sulk in a corner? No, she couldn't keep herself down like this. No matter what choice she was going to make, she was going to go in and come back with a resolute face.

The girl had made up her mind. She put on her red jacket and walked out of the broken mansion gates.

* * *

><p>While the two who were requested to come to the church walked through the empty street at night, the executor followed behind them as the place they were going to was what he considered his own home.<p>

But that was not the only reason he did; considering how 'slow' the girl was walking. He would have reached his home hours ago if he was going by himself. As much as he would like to give the excuse that he was 'escorting' them, the girl did not need an escort, considering she had a Heroic Spirit to act as her protector should anything go the wrong way.

The reason he kept at their pace was because he had questions. Ever since that Servant had asked him something he could not answer properly, he wondered if he knew something about him that he didn't. The Servant that was walking beside the girl, who did not seem to wish to switch to his spirit form, always gave off the feeling as if he was 'similar' to him. So he spoke out his name that he already heard countless of times coming from his 'Master.'

"Shirou, what did you mean when you told me that?" Wanting to know more about him, to find an answer to his own purpose. He starts out with his obvious question.

After a few seconds, a response came. "I meant exactly what I said."

"No, I don't understand. Did you question my skills as a caretaker, or did you ask whether I would put the girl in danger?"

"Heh. If you can't even understand a basic question like that, you might have to wait a few years before speaking to me." Despite the chuckle and sarcastic remark, the servant in red voice contained a certain malice, clearly directed at him.

"You talk as if you understand me."

The Servant chuckled. "I had dealings with one who acted in a vaguely familiar manner as you do, although at that time he knew me better than I did him."

Dealings with someone familiar? Does that mean he already knew what he was going to ask of him? That he knew the answer to his question he couldn't find throughout his life?

"You don't have to think I don't know you, Kirei. In fact, I know you better than anyone else. We are ones who do not fit into the normal world and never will. Like mine, your hands will inevitably be stained in blood."

Giving him no room to retort, the servant in red continued.

"But that's where our similarities end." The servant in red gave a glance back at him, a sharp tone in his voice as he continued. "You might be the same as me, but you're broken in a different sense of the term. You will never see things from my perspective, so there is nothing for me to tell you. But what I can say, Kirei, is that you are lost."

The executor in priests clothing was left with more questions than answers. He could even feel his face change into one of surprise and shock, although not to the degree of a normal person when given such revelations.

"Shirou, what are you talking about?" The girl who was overhearing the conversation, was completely puzzled from the look on her face, not understanding what he was talking about with the Servant.

Not knowing what to say, the executor could only be lost in his thoughts until he saw they had reached the Church and his Father was standing outside the doors, looking back at them.

"There you are. I didn't think you would be coming for a visit today." The one waiting for his guests spoke in a polite manner.

"Father, is something wrong?" Despite speaking in a friendly manner, his voice held no affection for someone he called his 'Father'.

"No. I was just attending to another guest who wished to visit the grave sites. He seemed to be in quite a paranoia so I showed him the way out." His Father responded in his usual manner. "A weird fellow that one was."

His Father looked at his guests and noticed what he also saw; the questioning looks on the faces of two he was expecting. "Oh of course, how could I not introduce myself? My name is Risei Kotomine, and I will be the supervisor for this 'Holy Grail War'."

* * *

><p>Rin blinked. She had known that Kirei's father was a Priest just like he was, but to be the supervisor for the upcoming war? That was something new to her.<p>

Forgetting the conversation Kirei and Shirou had for now, she walked in through the Church's doors for something even more serious.

However something had caught her attention which caused her to pause in her movements. When she looked at her Servant, he was looking behind him, with his eyes narrowed over something in the distance.

"Shirou, what's wrong?" Rin asked.

While still looking behind him, the servant in red responded. "It felt like we were being watched, from where I don't know."

Keeping it as a warning in the back of her head, she responded. "It's alright Shirou, even if we are being watched. They can't see us when we're inside." Rin told him that as a signal to give up on it for now. Taking one last glance at where he was feeling the presence of the observer, the Servant silently accepted and followed.

When inside, the creaking of the doors being closed behind them could be heard echoing through the Church's grand hall. The hall was lit up by candles against the presence of the darkness, and the table rows where one would sit and pray were all completely empty. The only people inside were the two priests and the girl with her servant.

"It is rather good to see you, Rin." The one who called himself Risei spoke out.

"Eh, you know my name?" Although she expected to have her name known by someone who called himself Kirei's father, she did not expect to be addressed by it instead of starting with a formal conversation introducing each other.

The Head Priest talked with a smile. "I was a close acquaintance of your Father, so it should not be odd that I know a rather lot about you and how he was training you to be a grand magus that would eventually surpass him."

"Oh, um, is that so?" It seemed the father figure of Kirei knew she had a hard time responding when it came to someone complimenting her.

"Yes. He was a rather good friend of mine, though I do believe we are not here for small talk, so I will be getting to our more pressing issues." The smile the Head Priest had disappeared, and a serious stern face overtook it as he continued on.

"As my Son has no doubt already told you, we have already given your parents a silent passing. Unfortunately, as of this time, we cannot hold a proper funeral due to our 'unique circumstances'." There was no doubt in anyone's heads what the Head Priest was referring too.

"Then, you know who did it, right?" Rin asked.

The Head Priest responded with a nod. "I have a general idea of who was responsible from my Son's reports. That, and the one responsible was rather sloppy with his work. It seemed as if he didn't have the time to hide his tracks when he chose to go into such a dangerous mission—"

"Enough with the running-around-circles-talk! You know who did it already, right? So just say it."

There was clear anger in her voice, knowing the reason for it he continued. "Very well. As you might already know, the 'Holy Grail War' is a fight between masters and servants over an omniscient wish granting device. Usually, as magi standards hold, one would wait for the war to start before they began fighting each other."

The Head Priests tone became more serious. "But what if there was someone who had decided that it would be better to kill the master now, before the servant could be summoned?"

"You... Aren't trying to say..." Just before she could finish, the Head Priest continued.

"Yes, your Father and Mother were killed as a way to detriment the Tohsaka's chances of influencing the Grail War." And spoke of what she was thinking. "Now, after close inspection, I have noticed that the killer had primarily used automatic weapons and normal bullet cartridges to accomplish his task. If you forget about the defenses of the Tohsaka mansion, it seemed as if the attacker had no idea about magi or their dealings." He took out a rather large bullet. "But that is with the exception of this, which was found inside your Father's rib bones. This peculiar bullet is loaded with a concentrated amount of mana. But what it does and how it works is an unknown factor, and I do not carry the proper tools to find out what is inside of it, though it does confirm to us that the killer is either a magus or knows about the existence of magi."

Unknown to everyone but Kirei, the girl's Servant narrowed his eyes, as if he saw something beyond what the Head Priest was holding up.

The Head Priest took an old scripture like looking paper from his vest and passed it to the girl. Adding to that, I had received rather peculiar information on who the Einzbern had chosen as their help for this war, with the added bonus that said person had recently come to Japan and traveled back to Germany."

Not bothering to read the paper, the girl asked again with permeating anger in her voice. "Then are you saying that the Einzbern wanted to kill my father and mother?!"

Now giving his back to the girl and looking at the altar of grand hall the Head Priest continued. "No. Knowing them as well as I do, it does not seem like they were the masterminds behind this plot. Though considering the one who I am referring to, I'm not surprised he would take matters into his own hands instead of caring about what others thought of him."

"If it isn't the Einzbern, then who else could have done it?" Her anger had boiled up to the point that she felt like she could explode any moment. She was getting tired of hearing about everything BUT the name of the one who murdered her parents.

Now looking at her, the Head Priest kept his passive face much like his son and responded. "The one known as the Magus Killer."

At this moment, the only one who saw Kirei's face change to an indescribable mood for a second was the servant in red.

"Magus Killer?" Rin asked losing most of her aggressiveness in her voice. Looking back through her memories, she wondered if Risei was referring to the figure she saw chasing her that night. The man in all black.

The Head Priest continued. "Yes, he's a rather notorious individual feared by magi around the world, hence his title. Although your Father and I already knew he would be chosen by the Einzbern and expected him to use his 'crude' backhanded methods during the war, even I did not expect him to carry out such an assault before the war even began."

Her anger boiled up again. They knew. They knew that such a dangerous man existed, yet these people who were supposed to be her families best 'friends' could do nothing against him? She would have screamed out her thoughts if it wasn't for the more concerning question she wanted answered.

"Then if I participate in this war, I will be able to get this Magus Killer?"

Shaking his head slightly, the Head Priest spoke. "You cannot take him lightly. There is a reason he is feared, and a reason why your Father and Mother were done in by him. As sad as that is for me to say."

He continued on before the girl could say anything. "In fact, I propose to you that your best method of surviving is to give up your rights as a master."

"My rights as a master?"

"So it wasn't explained to you, then?" Everyone in the room took a glance at the Servant in the back. However the Servant did not change his posture or attitude, and gave the Head Priest the look saying 'you tell her'. In response the Head Priest gave the look of annoyance to the Servant, and turned his attention back to girl.

"Very well. I will tell you now. Your right as a master is on your right hand. Those red marks are your Command Seals that can be used to tell your servant to do what you wish, even to the point of making him do the impossible."

"The impossible?" Rin asked, wondering if it meant she could make her servant stop his usual antics if she used one.

The Head Priest nodded. "Say you are in need of your servant and he is not next to you. You can order him to immediately come to you, and he will be teleported next to where you are."

While talking the Head Priest lit the few candles that were not torched in the grand hall. "In the same manner, if your servant is not acting in the way you wish of him, or is rather rebellious, you can give him an order of absolute obedience to you. However, the more broad an order is, the harder it is for it to be carried out. So even if you wish for your servant's total obedience, he will sooner or later be able to find ways around it."

After finishing his task, he looked back at the girl and continued on. "For that reason, the Command Seals are precious and must not be wasted unless a master wishes his life to end shortly after summoning his servant. Though the exception to this rule is if one relinquishes his rights as a master and gives up his servant."

Now realizing what Kirei's Father was telling her, she speaks out her thoughts. "Then, you want me too..."

As if to answer them, the Head Priest replied. "Yes, considering the dangerous opponents you will be meeting later on. I advise you to give up your rights as a master and forfeit the Grail. There is no reason for you to be involved in this war, especially one such as you at your age. Should you accept, I will offer you the Church as your safe haven to live in."

"But, I-" Before she could say anything, her Servant spoke out.

"She will not abandon the Grail, Priest. I suggest you don't treat her as if she was a weak damsel in distress who needs protection."

Risei now looked at the girl's Servant, who seemed to be smiling as if he knew something everyone else in the room didn't.

"And you are?" The way the Head Priest spoke, it was obvious that he was asking more than just his name.

"I am the Archer class for this war, and I'll let you know that my master has the highest chance of winning the Grail."

The Head Priest, now rather annoyed by the Servant who seemed to have overtaken the conversation, responded. "Winning? How? Considering she is not even at the age of ten and your rather... Pitiful amount of power. You claim that she has the highest chance of winning out of all the other contenders?"

"I am not stating a hypothesis, Priest. I am stating the truth. Don't tell me you lost all hope in the one you were betting on to win just because of some draw backs." The Servant talked in a mocking tone.

Before the master of the grand hall could respond, the girl spoke up with a firm voice.

"It's okay Shirou. I've already made up my mind."

The Head Priest smiled as if knowing what she will say. "Right, so you will abandon the Grail and live out your life as the new head of Tohsaka family, correct?" Knowing that it was the correct and logical choice, and considering the girl could do very little when faced up against other masters. He had no doubt that the girl would choose to live a comfortable life instead of one that could end within days. He could even see Kirei giving the look of agreeing with what his Father said.

"No. I am going to fight."

"What." The two Priest's spoke in unison with mild shocks on their faces while the servant only kept his smile.

"You heard me. I can't back down from a challenge just because the opposition looks too hard to face. That's not how a magus of the Tohsaka family would act." She gave a look of absolute confidence to the Head Priest. "If my Father was going to participate in this war, then instead of him I'll do it. I have even more reason if the one who killed him is taking part in it." Despite being a child, she gave no room for anyone to talk back. "There is no reason for me to run away, especially if that's what everyone expects of me."

While holding out her pendant with her right hand she kept up her momentum. "If there are those who think the Tohsaka's are weak then so be it. But I will participate in this war and prove them wrong. I'll take on the work and effort my family has put into this war, and I won't let anything they did for me go to waste. So I'll fight, and I won't be letting go of my servant so easily."

After what seemed like an eternity, the Head Priest finally snapped back to reality and put a hand on his forehead while sighing. "Then I suppose I should help you, considering you are indeed the child of your father. I guess I should start off the with rules of this war."

Catching everyone's attention, the servant in red spoke. "Aren't you forgetting something, Priest? You've been quiet for far too long you've been keeping her Magic Crest."

The Head Priest looked at the servant with a frown and responded. "I was going to get to that after I had explained the rules of this war to her. But I guess that is the most concerning issue to you."

"My Magic Crest?" Rin heard her Father talk about the 'Magic Crest' but never in enough detail to tell her what it exactly was.

Answering the girls doubts, the Head Priest looked back at her and spoke. "Right, the Magic Crest for you is the culmination of magic circuits from the entire Tohsaka lineage. It is what most magi have engraved on their body that allows them to pass on their spells and magic circuits to a successor. With it, I believe you will be able to supply much more prana to your servant then you are able to now. If you truly wish to fight that is."

"So why can't you just give it to me then?" She asked.

"Because installing a magic crest onto the body is not an easy thing. I have the capability to carry it out. However, you will remain in deep sleep throughout the process, and it will take quite a few days for me to manage to have it engraved properly without damaging you."

"So what's wrong with that?" Rin still didn't understand why she couldn't have it.

"Because the Grail War will commence in a few days." The Head Priest spoke with a serious demeanor.

The servant of the bow mused. "So I was correct in my assumption on why you were trying to make her forfeit."

"It's as you believe." Then he looked at the girl to give her a clear answer of why her request was not an easy decision to make. "In the time I am done with the process of installing the magic crest onto you. The Grail War would have already began."

The one who called himself the Archer of this war chuckled in response. "I see, so the more time we waste talking now, the less time we will have to be ready for what is to come, huh?"

"Although I wouldn't consider it a waste." The Head Priest scoffed to the Bowman then looked at the girl. "It is up to you to decide whether or not you wish for me to carry out the process now. My hands are free to work on such a meager task for the child of someone who I owe a great debt too."

From the moment it was said, there was nothing to think about though. She had already decided to participate in this war. To say 'no' to the last gift she will receive before heading into battle would be as if shooting herself in the foot.

"I'll take it." She made a face as if to say there was no turning back now. "I'll take the magic crest."

Despite knowing the danger and chance of success the girl had, the Head Priest gave a small smile. "Right, then you should proceed to the back of the hall and to the dweller of the basement. I will be with you shortly."

'Wait, dweller?' The girl thought that this was one of those horror movies where the child would be locked up in the basement and be experimented on.

Seeing the contortions on the girl's face, the Head Priest replied with a light-hearted laugh. "You have nothing to fear. No one will pass inside the Church without my blessing. Especially not to the backroom, where I will be looking after you."

Even the Bowman gave a chuckle. "He is right, Master, having had many experiences with backstabbers, I can tell you that he is not the type to do anything to you while you aren't looking."

The Bowman then turned his back to everyone in the hall and proceeded towards the exit. "In any case, I will be going back to the mansion. I still have much 'cleaning' to do considering that I wasn't even done with that yet."

"Eh, you won't be with me?!" The girl was not scared of the operation, she had already made up her mind. But being put in a basement and seeing her Servant walk away; gave the message similar to a child left by themself in some dark corner of the room and their caretaker telling them 'I'll be back later'.

"There is no reason for me to stick around here. And I have rather bad memories with churches. You don't have to worry, I will be around here monitoring the area. So I will be with you when you finally manage to wake up." As he said that, the servant of the bow shifted to his Spirit Form.

"How does he keep disappearing like that?" Wanting the answer to the question that was in the back of her mind for the longest time, she spoke out.

"It is something all Heroic Spirits are capable of." The Head Priest responded. "Now, I believe we should get started before any more time is wasted."

Despite being rightfully scared for herself, she smiled to where her servant had left from her sight. The girl turned her back as well and proceeded to head to the back of grand hall. Like that, the two figures with colors matching in red, turn their backs to each other to meet on another day.

* * *

><p>He walked through the broken gates and into the now ruined mansion. He pretended that all of this was a joke and that fate was just playing with him.<p>

He saw no one, and couldn't even notice the tears falling from his face. With a torrent of emotions swirling in his heart, he continued to walk about, calling out the name of the one he sought. He heard no response, and tirelessly walked around the halls as if a ghost inhabiting an empty building. Having repeated it enough times, he faced the truth and was forced to his knees.

Even knowing he was being watched, he let out an endless scream.

* * *

><p>AN:

Phew, finally finished this chapter. This one is a bit longer than my old ones but I found it rather necessary considering I have A LOT of plot points to get through so I am going to tick off a few here instead of wasting time explaining them in the next one.

I was going to put in a bad ending and attach it to this chapter below (though if you read this, its kind of easy to know what the bad end was about), but I thought it was kind of spoiler-y (not that much) so I will put it in the next chapter rather than this one.

That and I have finally made some absolute resolutions involving Archer and Kirei. I already know how the character development is going to go down right to the end of my story, and I think you will rather enjoy how these two figures react with each other instead of F/Z's Kirei and Gilgamesh pairing.

That and I finally get around to Risei Kotomine. Now as it has already been hinted, we are done with Rin's character development for now and we are going to move on to the three masters that I haven't even talked about yet.

You might also notice that I leave out most if not all the sensory information that other people would have put in. This is because at this point I assume you already know F/SN and F/Z that I don't have to re-explain the background/back-story for most of these characters as to keep my chapters short and not 'overly draggy'.

Now some one was rather sad that I had Aoi killed. Disregarding the reasons that will come up in the next chapters as to why the Magus Killer did what he did. I will tell you now that there was a plot point where she HAD survived and that she was going to do something. However the reason I didn't put it in is because it interferes with many of my other plot points I was going to make. In fact I would be pretty sure I would have a arc dedicated to Aoi and what could possibly have happened to her rather then moving on to what I consider more 'interesting'.

Now the most important thing that no one has addressed to me is that I hope I am not going too fast when I am writing out these chapters. Being critical of myself as I am, I sometimes feel that I am skipping over way to many things that will be explained in the next chapter. Though I think that when I look at it a bit further, I find it pretty alright as it will be covered later on and to add a bit of tension to the reader.

There is also one more important thing I almost forgot to mention. Some people believe that 'Shirou' ((not EMIYA) the 'Shirou' that is saved from the Fuyuki fire) will still be born in this world. I am telling you right now that is impossible. because the second Archer replaced Gilgamesh, The future where Shirou is born is close to zero. so it wont be happening here, can't say anything more because spoilers.

So yeah, Rin is getting beefed up, which means Archer is getting beefed up, which means Rin x Archer team is going to be kicking arse and taking names soon enough. Though to what degree I won't say.

Either way I am off to working on my next chapter and I appreciate all the followers/favorites/and reviews I am getting. If you think any part of my story or writing sucks, don't be afraid to tell me. As I do in fact read everyone's review. Thank you everyone and I'll see you all later!


	4. Chapter 3

I do not own fate/stay night or anything belonging to type moon.

Chapter 3: Different worlds

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><p>It has been a day since his Father had been working on installing the Magic Crest onto the girl for the upcoming 'Heaven's Feel'. It was not as if the procedure was hard and that his Father needed any help, so most of the time the executor would be on standby.<p>

However not being able to do anything did not mean not doing anything. Ever since he heard the name of the 'Magus Killer' echo through the halls of the Church that day. He had asked his Father to let him take a look upon all the documents that contained any information about this Magus Killer. It was not as if it was his first time hearing about the name, but he had heard it on several occasions from people working in his field and those he met.

A rogue magus with no ties to the Magus Association. Working as a freelancing assassin, he goes around the world meddling into conflicts and wars that are no benefit to him except for cash. He know's how a magus thinks and operates and has not even an inch of pride to act in the way other magi would. He will use all sorts of trickery and schemes even to the point of bringing down a passenger plane full of people if the target is on board. Specializing in killing magi, it is no wonder that he is given the title of 'Magus Killer' for what he does.

However something does not add up. If he had done all this simply for money then it would have been understandable as to why he went so far with what he did. But killing Tokiomi and his Wife for a war that hasn't even started? There are those who becomes tools for killing out of rage, bloodlust, or greed. But to go this far with cold and calculating plans is too much for one who is considered a normal 'mercenary' if all he wished for was money.

Then there was this other character, 'Shirou'. Whether it was his real name or not he didn't know, what he knew was that what he had said to him had been haunting him like a ghost in his mind.

"_But what I can say Kirei, is that you are lost._"

He narrowed his eyes at what the Heroic Spirit had told him. If he could have just brushed it off as lies or fallacies, then he wouldn't have cared that much about what he had said. But he had felt that the Bowman had merit in his words despite the way he talked. Now thinking about it, if there was anything that amused Kirei as of now even if he couldn't feel amused. It was how absurd the situation really was for him.

People would fight and die over a cup that could grant any wish. Yet what he wished for did not require the cup in any sense of the term. He could easily find his answer from the people he would be meeting in this war but not from the 'Grail' that could make any miracle come true. How truly absurd.

Going to the dweller with his normal soulless expression on his face, he asks the one operating on the girl for a permission.

"Father, can I take my leave from the Church for now?"

While still working on the girl, the Head Priest responds back. "Hmm, I would be compelled to say yes but for what reason?"

"I would like to do a background check on the servant who is currently in the mansion." The executor reaffirmed.

"Ah, that servant, so it wasn't only me who was getting rather bad vibes from him." The Head Priest responded while fetching new tools to continue his work on the girls installment of her Magic Crest.

Still looking for his tools in the dweller the Head Priest continues. "Alright, I give you permission for leave from the Church in order to monitor that servant. It seems that he is hiding things that he has not even told his master as of yet."

So it wasn't only his Father thinking the same thing. The servant is indeed hiding many things from almost everyone in this war. Knowing his full name before even meeting him, pointing out his deficiencies where even those closest to him could not. One would be inclined to say that he had a rather peculiar power for his class that could see through people and look into their souls.

Not knowing whether many of his assumptions were either wrong or correct, he had plenty of time to go ask the one named 'Shirou' for answers to his question. Even if he did not get them, he would be able to receive answers from one he would expect to meet soon in this war.

With that in mind, the executor leaves through the large doors of the Church.

* * *

><p>Barging out of the lecture hall, the boy who was not lucky enough to be born in a famous magi family or to have a good master. Had presented a thesis on how it didn't take either of those two things for one to harness the power in themselves and become a powerful magus rivaling those whose family blood goes back by centuries. However, the Clock Tower is not a place for one to spread such wisdom, especially to those who in position of authority all mostly come from families that Waver Velvet questions over.<p>

Others had shunned him, some had tried to "teach him the correct path", and most just ignored him. However, it was only Kayneth Archibald who went far and beyond as to humiliate him in front of a lecture hall. As if to prove his theory is nothing but make belief and to restate that one simply needs strong family blood flowing in their veins in order to be a great magus. Waver knew that the reason he criticized him so is because of jealousy. knowing that his position as a lecturer could be overtaken and seeing new theories and developments that would have over shadowed him. It's not hard for even Waver to believe why Kayneth Archibald did what he did.

Still that could not quell Wavers anger. Already suffering from not being acknowledged and now further humiliated. He had luckily managed to bump into a delivery man who had been holding a special package for the one he was holding contempt too. The delivery man believed that the student would be kind enough to deliver the package to his teacher. But Waver Velvet had other plans then simply giving a box that could be hiding mysterious treasure to the one he hated.

* * *

><p>After finishing his lecture and standing in an almost empty hall inside the Clock Tower, Kayneth Archibald asked with a serious questioning face. "Tokiomi Tohsaka is dead?"<p>

A man who wore robes as clothing and a hood to cover his face responded. "Yes, it seem's that he was killed by an assassin who had attacked him in his home. His wife has also been confirmed dead by further reports. We don't know who it was who was capable of such an act for now."

Kayneth responded with more questions. "An assassin? Then does that mean the Tohsaka family is unable to fight in the Holy Grail War?"

The man responded again. "No, it seems that the Tohsaka Family has already summoned their servant."

"Already? Then who could have summoned the servant if not Tokiomi?" Kayneth then asked with a mild surprised face. If Tokiomi and his wife are dead, then who could have possibly be able to summon a Heroic Spirit to fight for them and win the Grail in the Tohsaka's family name?

"We believe that the one who could have done it is Rin Tohsaka." The man who seemed to be serving as Kayneth's information broker responded again.

"Rin...Tohsaka?" Kayneth did not recognize the name, he knew a fair bit of the Tohsaka family that lived in Japan considering they would be his enemies, but someone named Rin Tohsaka? Was this person a secret heir to the family, or had he simply not heard of the person?

"Yes, it seems that she is the six year old daughter of Tokiomi Tohsaka. We cannot confirm anything else at the moment."

As the man in front of him said that, Kayneth let the fact that a six year old of all people had summoned a servant to fight in the war for her. After a few seconds, he broke out in the most maddening laughter that would make other's who saw him think he was induced with madness. After what seemed like a minute, Kayneth had calmed down enough to respond to the man again.

"This is truly ridiculous, for my enemy to be a six year old girl and no older than that!" Breaking into his hysterical laughter for a few seconds more, he now looked at the one who gave him this information and continued. "You have done me well, that will be all for now. It seems I will have a far easier time winning this war then I thought I would." Hearing that, the man in robes bowed his head and made his leave.

Kayneth Archibald already knew that being the head in the family that consisted of the elite among the nobles in the Magus Association already earned him an easy spot to participate in the 'Heaven's Feel' ritual. Now knowing that his enemies were weaker than he believed, what ever tension or anxiety that he had before had completely disappeared. He would give this girl a 'fair' chance to fight him if he met her on the battlefield, but the result would be the same. Now if only that package he had asked for hours ago had already arrived in his office.

* * *

><p>The Magus Killer sat in the backseat of the car that was heading towards the Einzbern Castle. Maiya Hisau was at the front seat of the drivers wheel. Most of the time the two would be quiet until something importance needed to be said while on the road. Most of the time the one who would be bringing up conversations would be the one feared by magi everywhere. But this time the one who started the conversation was the one who served under the man who was notorious around the world.<p>

"Is your arm still in pain?"

"No, most of the wound has already closed and I seemed to have learned a rather lot in the exchange for a limb." The Magus Killer cracked a joke while keeping a straight face, even though no one was laughing.

"Is it about that servant?" Meiya asked while still driving the car through a mountainous district.

"More than that, I had a few hypothesis concerning how the servant system works, and this has just confirmed a few of them." Ignoring right now that the Heroic Spirit he had fought would have been able to cut him down when he first saw him. Or it could have chased him later on if it wasn't busy doing something else back at the manor. He had been able to make a few speculations on how the Grail chooses the Master's that will fight in its name.

First it seems that the Grail will prioritize the three head families for the summoning of the servants. That and it did not seem as if it cared if the Master was a weak magus or a strong one. It only cared that the one who will be chosen Master is capable of performing feats that only a magi could do. That and one could be capable of summoning a servant much earlier than would be expected. To how far back can you summon a servant for a 'Heaven's Feel' ritual that was yet to happen he didn't know.

It would explain how the girl had managed to save herself when he had tried to take her down. In fact he would have never have had to kill anyone but Tokiomi if they hadn't seen his face while he carried out his deeds. Still remembering what he had done in the name of world peace. His plan was to simply take out Tokiomi, remove any evidence that would link the death to him, and carry out the Grail war with the Tohsaka family out of action.

However it seemed to have complicated into killing Tokiomi and his family to hide the fact that it was the Magus Killer who had carried out such an act. At least for after the Grail War had ended, as to not draw any attention to him and how he executed his plans for this war. Now after his uncertain change in plans and unexpected meetings back at the mansion he attacked. He had no doubts that any average magus could point out that it was him who had done the deed considering all they had to do was look at his background information and match it to what had happened back in the manor he assaulted.

Now noticing that he had reached his destination, he had gotten out of the car along with Meiya. To see his Wife waving at him from the front of the Castle gates with a cheerful smile on her face.

Only to turn into one of concern over her Husband as she saw the place where his left arm should be. Seeing that he was close enough to her to walk inside the Castle, she spoke out.

"Kiritsugu, your arm... what happened?"

The Magus Killer replied with a small smile. "It's nothing, I had run into trouble on my last mission, though the price paid for it was worth it in the end."

"So you actually did it then?" His Wife asked, the concern on her face not dimming even the slightest.

Returning to his stoic expression he responded. "I wouldn't consider it a job well done, but I seemed to have received more than what I had expected for this one."

"What do you mean?" His Wife asked again.

While explaining to Irisviel von Einzbern what had happened back in the Tohsaka's family mansion. They walked to the center of the Castle where there was Cathedral, in which the Einzbern were waiting for him.

* * *

><p>Working in small jobs, getting small pay, and finishing all of it within short amount of hours is how a 'Freeter' operates. Even if he was capable of getting more than what he does now, he had no need to do so as he had plenty of hobbies to spend time on. That and he would rather not get bogged down in workload for pay that he would barely do anything with. After all he had found a rather interesting book at his parents home detailing the way to summon a 'Servant' through the use of some sort of ritual. He did not know how to perform it exactly but Ryuunosuke Uryuu believes that he could 'incorporate' it with his murder art. Seeing as the book had detailed it in a way as if you were summoning a demon. So if one is to summon a demon of all things, then one would have to perform vile and evil acts in order to bring it forth into the world.<p>

Unfortunately for Ryuunosuke Uryuu, the home he had wished to raid had its security beefed up. For some reason, a terrorist attack on some rich family's home had caused the police to work double time. In order to ensure the neighborhood he wished to perform his dark arts in was safely protected from further attacks. This had only changed very little though, as our young man who will find amusing ways to murder people and see if it brings forth any results. Will simply target another neighborhood which wasn't as heavily guarded as the one he wished to attack.

After careful planning and deliberation, since if one wishes to perform acts that society condemns one should not be so easy of a fish to catch. He had managed to locate and raid an Asian household numbering four people.

"Fill, fill, fill, fill, and fill again. That was five times right? Ok! We are of to a good start!"

Having already practiced on how to make a magic circle in order to summon the demon into this world. He had to use most of the family's blood and therefore could only leave one person alive to be offered as a sacrifice.

"Say boy, do you believe in demons?" He called out to the kid that he had left alive. Of course he couldn't talk back as he was gagged from screaming out, and his whole body tied to a chair as to prevent him from running away.

Nevertheless the kid still let out usual moans and groans as if believing that doing so would save him from being eaten by the demon he would summon, if it was summoned at all that is. He didn't really care if it worked, as he just wanted to try out new ways of murdering people rather than doing the same thing over again.

"Do I need to offer something more to summon it? Hmm..." Seeing as this was one of his many attempts that he already tried in other houses on summoning a 'Servant'. He looked around to see if he could use anything in this families house to bring forth what he desired.

"Hey boy, isn't this some sort of family heir loom? Looks like a pretty old fur to me." He had picked up a box and opened it to see some sort of old black colored fur inside of it. However it was so small that you couldn't even call it anything but leftover hair from some animal.

"Ah well, I might as well try it anyway. I always wanted to talk to a demon! That reminds me... How should I introduce my self? Hmm... Oh that's right!"

While he put the fur in the middle of the magic circle he talked as if he was acting out a play. "Hello there demon! I, Ryuunosuke, offer you this child as a sacrifice!"

Removing his acting facade, he thought about what he said. "Hmm, doesn't sound right. I need to say it as if I am a demon too. Right boy?" He looked at the tied up kid with a smile, who was still trying to squirm, scream, and crying his way out of the situation he was in.

"Hmm, how about this. Hello there demon! I of- ah ouch!" Before he could continue his play, his right hand had started to hurt. "What... the hell is this?" He couldn't make out the shape of what was on his right hand as his attention was immediately drawn to the magic circle he drew with blood suddenly lighted up.

Unable to say anything to the impossibility of what was happening in front of him. He could only watch as a bright light and smoke encompassed the room.

* * *

><p>AN:

Fun fact: I had finished this chapter a day ago but due to system restore had lost half of the progress working on it. Still remembering what I had written, it was not hard to rewrite everything again.

Now to the story, you honestly didn't think I'd keep ALL the characters the same did you? In this case I just ditched Caster. Hopefully I didn't make it too easy to figure out who our new Caster is.

Now before anyone asks, why Caster? Well because he serves the plot point in F/Z as telling others "Something is wrong with the Grail because it just summoned an evil dude to an evil guy, why would the Grail do that?!" As to make the buildup for the ending of F/Z better for foreshadowing its conclusion. I can't say anything more than that because I would spoil the reveal of my new character in this version of the 4th holy grail war.

This chapter is a bit shorter since I want to do most of the summoning's at the same time in order to avoid repetition. That and there's not much to say about F/Z in its prelude stages considering there is not much back story information I can talk about concerning the other three masters. That or I could have just regurgitated everything that was written in the F/Z light novel but I decided not to do that.

Luckily, my inclusion of a bad end from the chapter before doesn't make this chapter to much of a 'drag' to read. That and I have taken my hand at trying to make a Einzbern Consultation Room by reviewer request featuring Iri, and Taiga.

If there is one thing I don't like in this chapter, it's my interpretation of Ryuunosuke. I just can't get into the heads of psychopaths and portray them accurately, so I had to take a step back and pretend I was not in his head when I was writing about his character. You will see why I did that later on.

Luckily for how short this chapter is. I can start answering questions my reviewers have left behind for me as I seem to have noticed I am not very good at explaining things in my author notes, so go me!

Q/A (I'll try to stay as spoiler free as I can but I might give off to much hints for what will happen later on. So, sorry if I do and ignore this if you don't want to read the slight spoilers):

Q1. Is there a possibility that EMIYA will find out about his past before the fire?

A1. Without spoiling anything I will say it like this. I will only give enough information like the nasuverse has about pre-Fuyuki-fire-Shirou.

Q2. So does the 'Shirou' from before the fire still exist?

A2. Yes he does, unfortunately I didn't explain this properly in the last A/N so I'll do it now.

The 'Shirou' from before the fire is still here in this world. The event that will lead to the fire and result in 'Shirou' being saved by Kiritsugu and then adopting the 'Hero of Justice' ideal will not happen in this fanfic.

Q3. Will it end the same way F/Z did?

A3. No, it will not, if I said this anywhere then it is a mistake. The ending will not lead to the same conclusion as it did in F/Z, as I am changing a lot of things that makes it impossible to arrive at that conclusion.

Q4. Archer is being rather too 'open' to Kirei about knowing him, is this intentional?

A4. Yes, he is doing it on purpose. It took 20 episodes(or 4 volumes for light novel readers) for Kirei to finally realize what his 'purpose' is. So don't expect a few fancy words to make him 'awaken' to who he is as of yet.

Q5. Why is Rin going around telling Archers name, isn't it supposed to be a secret?

A5. Archer doesn't really care if people know his first name 'Shirou'. Even if he told everyone he is 'Shirou Emiya', they will not be able to find out anything about him because he is not a normal Heroic Spirit, but a Counter Guardian from the future. Now people finding out his last name is Emiya is a entirely different matter...

Forgetting that point, I will tell you now how terminology for EMIYA is going to work:

For people who are close to him(does not mean his friends) : Shirou

For people who aren't close to him : Archer

Now a question that I will answer in case anyone else in the future asks:

If there is a plot error or a plot hole in any of my chapters, point it out to me and if I see it as one I will fix it, even if I have to rewrite the entire chapter to do so. Anyways, off to the bad ending!

* * *

><p>FO Choice #2, Rin gives up:

"Yes, you're right, I can't fight in this war." Rin replies with a bitter face.

The Servant in red dropped his smile, and it was replaced with an expressionless one.

The Head Priest smiles in return. "Good, don't be to sad over not fighting for the Grail, your chances of survival were rather slim if I had to say the truth."

After some talk on how to use the Command Seals, the girl uses all of them while her used to be Servant can only stare at her with that same expressionless face he was giving as she had given up.

The Head Priest responds with a smile. "Right, now that you have forsaken your rights as a Master, I grant you safe haven in this Church. You may come and go and as much as you wish."

"What about my Servant?" Rin asks out of worry of what would happen to him now.

"It will be given to someone else who would wish to participate in the Grail War. Do not worry, I am sure he will do fine and rather better with a master more befitting him."

Seeing as there was nothing to do now, the girl responds back. "Fine, then I am going back home."

Seeing her walk by herself to the exit, the Head Priest asks. "Alone? Do you not consider it unsafe to walk by yourself at night?"

Getting angry at all the mild insults being thrown at her, she finally shouts out. "I am not an ordinary girl you know! I can walk home just fine."

The Head Priest understanding what the girl meant, responds. "Alright, then that will be it for today I presume. Come Kirei, we have much more work to do regarding finding a Master for our Archer here." Saying that, he walks to the back of the Church.

"Yes, Father." Kirei follows behind him and hints the Bowman to do the same.

Looking behind before exiting the doors of the Church for one last look at her servant, she saw a face from him she had never seen before.

...

Reaching her broken mansion gates, she walked inside. Even if she had lost her servant, she would find someway to clean up the mess that had been left behind.

Walking inside, she goes to her bedroom. Only to hear the footsteps of someone else in the mansion.

Not being like other children or a fool, she hides herself behind some rubble as she hears the footsteps coming closer. Only to hear the sound of something weird buzzing around behind her. Looking back she sees some sort of large wasp looking insect with slimy texture and red eyes.

Seeing it looking at her, she lets out a shriek, and starts running for her life.

"Wh-what was that?! Wasn't this house just free of insects seconds ag-" As she tries to run for the mansions exit doors, she bumps into something.

Looking up, she sees someone wearing blue jeans, a grey jacket and a hood covering his face. Unable to say anything due to sheer shock, she can only watch as a horde of flying insects surround her.

...

Where was she now? Oh, that's right, she was waiting in the adoption center with all the other children for someone to pick her up and become her foster parents. She does not know how long she has been here for, but she knows that those who give their heart out to children without parent's can't be bad people.

The caretaker of the fugitive children calls out to her with a happy smile on her face. "Come here, Rin. It seems some one had decided to pick you up!"

"Yes!" With a bright beaming smile, she picks herself up and goes towards what seems to be a rather old man holding onto a cane in his right hand to support himself for walking it seems.

"Aren't you a bit old to take care of kids?" Rin asks with a puzzled face.

"No, I have a good family that will take care of you back at home, now come along. We don't have all day." The old man replies, with the caretaker that was still smiling agreeing with him.

Now holding his hand and walking out of the foster childcare center, the old man speaks again. "From now on, you will refer to me as Grandfather."

Not knowing what was in store for her. She had assumed that the old man had better caretakers at his home and could only smile knowing she had been finally been picked up for adoption out of all the other children.

BAD END

Note: If you want anymore of a hint for what happened, remember that when Kariya took in the crest worms. He lost most of his ability to perform complex thinking, allowing him to be easily manipulated.

Einzbern Consultation Room #1:

In front of a bright clean classroom with a chalkboard in front of the wall. A Irisviel von Einzbern in a pink and purple colored kendo uniform with a Naginato (a type of spear) in her left hand.

"Hello! How is everyone doing?"

Continuing on with a cheerful smile. "As you might have already noticed, we are the assistance corner for those who are stuck in any part of this Holy Grail War!"

Then a young Taiga Fujimaru comes into the scene.

"Yes! And I am Student No. 0!" She continued on in a fast pace. "I was training in the mountains, preparing for a match and then suddenly I was dragged into a battle and was saved by this stranger!" Clearly referring to Instructor Iri, she continued on in her fast pace. "Not only do I not know my right from my left, I don't even know my name! Yeah!"

Looking at Taiga, Instructor Iri responded with her beaming smile. "Ah, T-chan it's so nice to see you full of energy, but unfortunately we aren't going to be doing our normal course of the show."

Taiga then talked back with a puzzled face. "Huh? Then we aren't going to be talking about that Kiritsugu guy anymore?"

Instructor Iri then responded with her beaming smile still on her face. "No, we are still going to be talking about the Grail War contestants later on. But for now we will be helping our contestant here to not make the wrong choices!"

Taiga responded with her own her own smile. "Hooh amazing!" But then she had realized something important and went back to her puzzled mood. "Wait... weren't we supposed to be in the last bad ending if that was the case?"

Instructor Iri responded to her students question with her smile. "Hmm, what bad ending are you referring to T-chan."

Taiga now attempted to make her question more clear. "Umm, wasn't it that bad ending where Archer..." But then noticed that her 'Teacher' was making a rather dreadful smile that gave the aura of 'death'. "N-No-Nothing! I was clearly mistaken over what I was talking about and there was no such thing as a bad ending before this one!"

Instructor Iri then responded in her happy mood. "That's right there was no bad ending before this one!" Continuing on. "Today we will be talking about the lesson of trusting your partner with your life!"

Taiga then responded with a puzzled face. "You mean the power of friendship?"

Instructor Iri responded with her smile again. "That's right T-chan, if you don't trust your friend's then bad things will start happening to you like being abducted by old people in foster care!"

Taiga then responded with amazement in her voice. "Hooohhh, then if I meet my friend's I can leave all my stuff in their care?!"

"That's right, in fact, I think my 'friend' at the sweet store owes me a few goodies considering how much I've been running into his store lately. And you know how hungry I can get for sweets if I don't get any!" Continuing on, Instructor Iri talked with her happy mood. "I think that brings the end of this consultation room, and remember always trust your friend's!" Running out of the classroom, there was no doubt to anyone where she was going.

Taiga seeing that, followed after her. "Wait, instructor! You know it's wrong to have desserts early in the morning!"

Einzbern Consultation Room FIN.


	5. Chapter 4

I do not own fate/stay night or anything belonging to type moon.

Chapter 4: Broken pieces

* * *

><p>Where there used to be piles of debris racked up in every corner, there was now only a few broken pieces of shattered brick and stone lying about the empty mansion. Seeing as most of his job was done, he turned his attention to one of the last pieces he needed to pick up and put back together, the hole in his Masters bedroom. Looking through it, one could no longer see down to the basement where he was summoned from. As the lower floors were cleaned to give the view as if no battle of any sort had taken place and the mansion made to look as it was before the night he appeared. Being the excellent cleaner that he was, he had managed to fix the front gates, doors, rooms, stairs, furniture, lighting, and most of the other assortments of items one would expect to find in the Tohsaka's family manor.<p>

Putting his hand near the hole which he had destroyed by jumping through to save his Masters life. He only needed one of his Magic Circuits to light up to make it look as if time had reversed. With where the hole should have been, being replaced with the original floor tiles of the bedroom. Of course what had actually happened was that his unique use of Gradation Air, or commonly known as Projection. Had completely remade the floor to what it used to look like through his memories of having previously been in the Tohsaka mansion.

He already knew that this was the place he had hoped to reach. That through being summoned here, he could fulfill his eternal objective. Looking at the pendant in his hand, he had pieced together enough information to know that what he sought out to do he both failed, and accomplished it.

He does not know everything, it's impossible to even remember glimpses of his memories for when he was alive without the proper catalyst or event to trigger them in him. Even if he could not remember it, having enough clues of what could unfold later on would have helped him immensely for the upcoming slaughter.

Even if he recognized being summoned to the correct place of where he needed to be. He already felt that he didn't belong here, not that it wasn't the right place, but that it was in the wrong time period.

The pendant would have been proof enough for him to assume that he was from the future, to meddle in a Holy Grail War that would begin after this one. But just when he was summoned, he clearly saw the face of someone he had looked up to in all his life.

"_When I was little, I wanted to be a hero_..."

It is something he should not remember, it is something he should have forgotten like all his other memories of when he was alive.

_"It's unfortunate but_..."

He can only see vivid images, to the point that the memory is now colored in white and black only. He cannot hear anything, or rather there is no sound to hear or remember the voice that was talking to him. He can only see his role model looking up at the night sky uttering something, the only reason he can figure out what he is saying is with the use of lip-reading.

"_Being a hero is a limited-time thing_."

In the end, all that's left as a memory of him is the last smile he gave as the image faded away from his mind. It was the same smile he gave him on the day he had saved his life. Even if he couldn't understand anything about the memory he recovered. He does not need to know what they talked about, for he is the result of what they had said on that day.

But now he sees that figure again, unlike anything he can remember from his memories. This was not the one he looked up to, there was no smile on his face as he saw him again. Only a cold calculating demeanor with the intent to kill a child no less. He was now thinking that he might have entered a parallel universe, far different from the one he had inhabited in his life time. Considering that he was summoned to the Heaven's Feel which happened before the one he took activity in. He had more than enough reason to believe the one responsible for the discrepancy was the one known as the 'Magus Killer'.

While his alias is 'Magus Killer', his true name is Kiritsugu Emiya, which matched up perfectly to the man who gave him that smile with what little he can remember in his memories. While thinking about what he knows of this world and the world he existed in. He recaptures the moment when he first saw the girl with blonde hair and green eyes, in dazzling blue clothing and shining white armor. Why did he remember her now of all times?

Putting that aside, he gathered all the information he could understand from this world and the memories of when he was alive. While he cleaned up whatever damage remained of the mansion, he started putting together what he could confirm as fact or highly possible of coming true in this world. Even if some of it seemed far to sketchy for him to think of it as anything but real.

He is participating in the fourth Heavens Feel. Kiritsugu Emiya will be working with the Einzbern to fight and win the Grail for them. He already made a decisive move by attacking the second competitor of this war, the Tohsaka's. The family he would be fighting for as a Servant, that is now only reduced to a number of one person, that being a small girl acting as his Master.

The third contestant for this war would be the Matou family, its current inhabitants being Kariya Matou who appears to be fighting as a Master for this war. Byakuya Matou, someone who he couldn't write anything about but being the brother of Kariya Matou. Sakura Matou, a name that gave him mixed feelings but here she was only slightly younger than his Master. Shinji Matou, once again a child but mentioning his name gave him the feeling of being 'peeved' off, as if he had heard the name of a despicable existence. But then there was the one named Zouken Matou, and he figured out why even mentioning the name 'Matou' gave him bad feelings.

The fourth adversary was one recently announced to him, Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald. A successful and rich nobleman who is an instructor in the Department of Spiritual Evocation at the Clock Tower. Hearing anything about him didn't give the feeling of having known him in his life time. Considering how young he is, and the fact that another Heavens Feel happened after the one he's currently in now. That meant he had dropped out of the war and went into hiding after it had ended, or that he had died while fighting in it.

The fifth challenger would be Kirei Kotomine. Although he would like to call him a challenger, he did not resemble the one that gave him the feeling of a rival he would have to face off eventually. He seemed like one with no direction or reason to do anything but accept and follow someone else's orders. He would have to tread carefully around him, but not as much as all the other opponents he would have to face off against in the war that could start any moment.

But the bigger problem was the one he was associated with. He wouldn't have a problem with telling all the information he knows about what happens after this Grail War if it weren't for his Father, Risei Kotomine. He knew that the Priest acting as a judge for this conflict was leaning towards Rin thanks to his connections with the deceased head of the Tohsaka's. But he couldn't trust how he would handle such information, especially if the judge decided to tell every one of what would happen in the final stages of this 'War'. For that reason, he kept the knowledge to himself until an opportunity where he could lay it all out presented itself. With no one going insane over it or thinking of continuing the war knowing what would happen if they did. Even worse would be with everyone finding out he was from the future, no doubt giving him 'undeserved attention' he did not want.

Moving on, his sixth opposition was an unknown, even with the help of the Church and the other connections the Tohsaka family had in the world. He couldn't figure out who the sixth Master or Servant was, something he couldn't take lightly. As it meant that his final opponents were either potentially dangerous, or too weak to be distinguished as anything noteworthy to be listed in this Grail War.

In the end he knew what they were all fighting for, he couldn't forget the day he was reborn into what he is now. The black tower that hung in the horizon across a sea of flames, something that could grant any wish, but at the cost of everything else. The safest and easiest method to acquire such a device as to not allow anyone else to unleash the 'Pandora's Box' was too...

Wait, could that be the reason why the one he looked up to do what he was attempting on the night of his summoning? No, he couldn't know the true identity of the Grail if the judge was oblivious to its nature as well. Then that means the reason he was going through such lengths to get the Grail was...

"I always assumed my luck wasn't great, but for it to be this low."

There was no one in this empty mansion but him. By now what a normal person would have considered a crater filled and ruined house, was almost spotless and clean from the inside and out. While putting a hand to his head, he grimaced at the thought of what his role model meant when he talked about being a hero.

* * *

><p>The large doors of the Church opened, revealing the Son entering and the Father waiting. Inside the Church, a magic circle was present right next to where the Father was standing. The Son already knew what is about to commence and simply accepted the role that will be pushed onto him.<p>

"I welcome you, second Master of the Heaven's Feel."

There was formality in his voice, but it was as if the Father was talking to a stranger as he addressed his Son, even if no one was inside the building but the two representatives of God. The Executor already knew what his role was in the grand scheme of things. He would not be operating as an individual in this war, rather he couldn't do such a thing as he had no use for the Grail. As he approached his Father, he was addressed again.

"Today we will be carrying out your summoning ritual, if there is something you wish to accomplish or have a need of a certain item or object. Now is the time to ask."

There was no need for anything to be said, the Executor will summon his Servant without a catalyst. After all he didn't care about the Grail War from the start, if anything he cared more about who was fighting in the conflict than who would win it.

Getting the reception he expected, the Father smiles and continues. "Very well, then we may proceed with the ritual."

But the Father and Son were not the only ones carrying out their rite of passage. Simultaneously all over the world, the Masters of the Heavens Feel had begun summoning their Servants.

Where one did not care about how this struggle would end, another would put everything at stake for the sake of winning.

In the Cathedral located inside the Einzbern Castle. The Magus Killer's Wife asked a question with a doubtful face, while holding onto the sheath that would act as a catalyst for their summoning.

"Is this really all we require to summon a Servant?"

In a crouching position, he checked the magic circle placed near the altar of the Cathedral while answering back. "You might be disappointed, but the summoning of a Servant never needed an extravagant spiritual evocation ceremony." Seeing that the magic circle was in its correct shape for the summoning ritual, he continued. "Because it is not the power of the magus that summons the Servant, but the power of the Holy Grail."

Standing up, he went on. "As a Master, I only anchor the Heroic Spirit to this world once it appears, then provide it prana to stay materialized in the world." Then looking at his Wife, he asked. "Iri, place the relic on the altar. Our preparations will then be complete."

But before his Wife followed his command, she asked him another question. "Kiritsugu, do you think your arm... could be affected by Avalon?"

Hearing the question the Magus Killer thought to himself. He had already been questioned by Jubstacheit von Einzbern or otherwise known as 'old man Acht'. Over the loss of his arm and what he had done over the past few days before he arrived to the Castle. Of course the old man didn't really care that much about his mission or what he was doing for the war before it started. He was more concerned with how useful the one the Einzbern believed could win them the Grail War could do now that he wasn't at his best. He was fully prepared to be put into a meager role in the war, but he would still ask the Einzbern if he could participate as support if they chose another Master to win for them.

Surprisingly, the artifact he received from the Einzbern had the power of regeneration of unimaginable potential. It was said that it could heal any wound no matter how grievous it may seem. To the point that only a death-blow which killed its wielder could render it useless. Giving him such a gift, they still left everything in his hands and believed that he would destroy all his enemies in the war and win the Grail for them. Though to what degree the artifact could be used to heal his arm he didn't know, because the only one who is capable of using it is the King of Knights.

Knowing that he responded. "If we take the legend of the sheath as fact, then it should be able to completely recreate my arm back to what it was." Looking at his arm, the wound had already closed and he could not feel any pain coming from the left side of his shoulder. "But other than that, I don't know."

Looking back to his Wife who still held onto her concern, he moved onto the important topic. "This is only a small setback Iri. With what we have now, victory is in our hands."

Even if some had put their lives on the line for the sake of victory, others had taken this war as a means of revenge and retribution.

In the labyrinth of the Matou household, one who is no longer human looks at one who gave up his humanity for the things he wished to protect.

"Have you prepared yourself, Kariya?" The one who arranged his worm storage for the summoning asked more than just remembering the incantation for the ritual.

"You already know the answer to that." Even with the crest worms placed inside him, allowing the existence that should have died off years ago to monitor him at all times. He would not show his true feelings towards the one he abhorred.

While resting on his wooden cane, the one in the shape of a human answered back. "That's good, then we will be adding two more lines midway through your incantation."

"What do you mean?" He asked, perplexed at what his Ancestor meant.

While smiling ominously, the head of the Matou's responded. "Isn't it obvious Kariya? Since your abilities are below most of the other Masters in this war. It will affect the abilities of your Servant."

What the thing he considered his 'Father' had gotten to him. Was he really that weak? Is that the reason why Aoi had died and Tokiomi had departed with her? Was everything he tried to do completely pointless?

Noticing the contortions on his face, Zouken continued. "Since that is the case with you, we must use the Servant Class as a way to increase the parameters of your Servant. For that reason, I will have what you summon be given the 'Mad Enhancement'!"

For a split second, the one who is only given a month to live. Thought how fitting the title was for him as his original intent was now replaced with a mad drive of hidden rage.

Zouken already knew this and did not expect much from his family member but entertainment for what he would do in this war. He had plenty of time to wait for his own Grail to shape up as time went on, since he could keep living indefinitely if he's required to do so in order to fulfill his own wish.

Keeping his smile, Zouken continued. "Kariya, as the Master of Berserker, fight for me with all that you've got."

Even with all the grand players gathered, there were those who one would never expect that would take a risk by joining the fight over the golden cup.

In the forest of a small town in the mountain region of Fuyuki, Waver Velvet had already started performing his ritual. He thought of how he could finally validate his worth despite being looked down upon for not having a great lineage to descend from. His theory and thesis that he was mocked for could finally be proven right.

Using the blood of a chicken, he created the magic circle that he had practiced to make perfectly without any mistakes just for this occasion.

"Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut. Shut. Five perfections for each repetition. And now, let the filled sigils be annihilated in my stead!"

Waver spread the chicken blood as he performed his incantation. Even knowing he could lose his life in this critical moment in time did not faze him. Without a doubt it was a quality of one capable of becoming an outstanding magus.

But if that's all one desired, then there would be no use for the Grail. It is a device that is capable of achieving a miracle one cannot accomplish in this world that could be deemed an impossibility.

With that in mind the contestants let go of anything unnecessary and put everything else at stake in order to win this battle. And as if responding to the calls of the humans, the entities beyond space and time were being procured to arrive at their destinations.

" – Set"

Continuing the ritual, the Executor in the Church advanced the incantation as he held out his hand.

" – Set

Let thy body rest under my dominion, let my fate rest in thy blade.

If thou submitteth to the call of the Holy Grail, and if thou wilt obey this mind, this reason, then thou shalt respond."

The magic circle started to glow in its brilliant light. A light that the Magus Killer was already familiar with as he progressed the incantation.

" – I make my oath here. I am that person who is to become the virtue of all Heaven. I am that person who is covered with the evil of all Hades."

Reaching the part where he needed to add the extra two lines to his incantation. Kariya uttered the lines that would remove the sanity of his Servant and force it into the role of Berserker.

" – Yet, thou serves with thine eyes clouded in chaos. Thou, bound in cage of madness. I am he who commands those chains –"

He could feel the crest worms moving erratically in his body, his right eye crying tears of blood. All magi had their own way of dealing with the prana required to summon a Servant, but all Kariya could do was brute force his way through the pain and agony he was suffering from. But he didn't care at all for that, his only goal was to see that happy family he saw smiling together in the park again. For which he would give up everything.

As if in the name of his deceased tutor, the apprentice Executor finished the last lines that Tokiomi would have said to call out his Servant. He could already feel his body reaching its limits as he rang out the last few words with the magic circle gushing forth heavy winds and sparkling light.

"Thou seven heavens, clad in a trinity of words, come past they restraining rings, and be thou the hands that protect the balance!"

The flash of light encompasses all the circles with clouds of smoke filling each scene. Out of the mist comes the figures of those who looked as if they came from fantasy legends. But the ones who looked at the supernatural figures in awe all knew that these were Heroic Spirits from the Throne of Heroes, each emanating with their own powerful aura. And now at each of these locations, someone asked in a majestic voice.

"I ask thee, art thou the Master that called me?"

* * *

><p>The Bowman standing on top of the mansion with his pendant hanging from his right hand, looked out into the distance to where the sun was setting. Even if it was faint, he could feel the others were already here.<p>

"Looks like I don't have to hold back anymore." He smiled to himself, despite having one out of eighth of his power missing, making him unable to utilize his full potential. The Bowman already made his plans, and did what could be done in the short amount of time he was given before the fighting began.

Not knowing whether what he does will change anything about him, or anything about his own future. He carries out his role as a Heroic Spirit, but being a Counter Guardian means willing to make sure this war doesn't turn into the tragedy it will become, if only to save those who would risk their lives for nothing.

"Heh, since when did I become soft?" Was it seeing that girl again that gave him the feelings he lost long ago? Or was it not seeing the person he expected to see that he could not act like his usual self?

The procedure for his Master should be finished by now. Tucking away his pendant, there was no longer any reason to wait for the inevitable.

"Well I better get going, otherwise she will no doubt be unfavorable to me if I was late."

He jumps from the rooftop and disappears into his spiritual form.

* * *

><p>AN:

I did not look forward to writing this chapter, simply because it is full of repetition for things which are already mentioned in F/Z, which meant I had to change things while keeping somethings the same. That and I had to decide which summoning incantation to use and I just decided to take the one from the F/Z light novel and take out Tokiomi's lines and say to myself. "Yup that looks good enough to me."

Luckily I don't have to go through such a painstaking thing again. Since next chapter will be a smooth ride for me because we are finally moving to where this story starts to separate from the F/Z story-line.

So getting to Archers POV, he is still suffering from amnesia because he doesn't have the key pieces that will tell him everything he needs to know about this version of the war. But Archer already has enough information to discern all the things one would expect him to find out so I just had to lay it out there as 'mini-introductions' for all the F/Z characters that will be appearing in this story and how he reacts to each one of them.

I wonder if anyone noticed all the minor details that I put in this chapter which will be big things as the story goes on. You might have also noticed I left out entirely what the hell Archer was doing while Rin was getting her Magic Crest installed onto her. It's one of those things that I will unravel slowly throughout the story. That and with short chapters I can take things nice and easy while leaving cliff hangers all the time (I honestly don't mean to do it, it just comes naturally to me). I might leave an Omake showing what Archer does in his spare time in the next chapter though.

I also have a thought of where this story will actually split from two different choices (so basically two different routes), but I won't really give you guys the choice and finish the story I thought up originally before I move onto the next route I have planned in my head. Don't worry though, since I don't have to spend 10,000-50,000 words on each chapter, I'll probably finish the first route faster than most people think.

But yeah, I have to get back to my college work so updates will be kind of slow, but I'll try to get out a chapter once a month (or shorter if my workload isn't that big). So leave me a review in the spare time to tell me if my story is doing good (or bad so I can fix whatever problems it has right now).

And thank you all once again for the favorites and followers! It really helps me keep going on to write this fanfic and finish it for you guys. So until the next chapter, enjoy thinking what Archer has planned to do to radically change this version of the Heaven's Feel!

Edit:

**Important A/N**:

I have acquired myself a betareader. My time and effort for this fanfic will be put into improving my chapters already posted here, starting with my Prologue. I'll be keeping my progress updated on my profile page, so look there if you want to know more.


	6. Chapter 5

I do not own fate/stay night or anything belonging to type moon.

Chapter 5: After fragments

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><p>This would be the last time he would walk out in the open streets for a months time, his daily routine, thrown away for the sake of his protection. Which should be how he'd like to phrase it, but the reality of his situation was entirely different.<p>

He had no special powers Magi would need to consider themselves as a Magus, but that didn't mean he couldn't become the heir of the Matou family. Through hard work and determination, he knew he couldn't fail to become as good as any other Magus. Since his Father was always kind to him, and even if the old man he had to live with could only throw insults at him; which he didn't really care much for since he just took it as an old man's ramblings. He knew had an open future in the world of Magic.

Then there came a day when he would meet an adopted family member. His new sister, Sakura Matou.

He was skeptical at first, wondering why they needed another child his age to enter into the family. He wanted to berate her, get angry at her, taunt her, but his first day wasn't going as he expected.

Shinji was hanging out in Sakura's room and noticed she had gotten rather comfy in her new environment. She changed her clothes, made her own bed, and filled the place with stuff she took from her old place. But she still had this weird bow tied to her hair she told him she'd never take off.

While on her bed, he asked why. "Hey Sakura, what's with that ribbon of yours?"

"It's something my Sister left me." She replied while reading some old dusty book, no doubt it had things involving magic inside it.

"Your Sister? She couldn't find anything better to give you?"

"How mean! My Sister was very kind to me you know!"

She seemed to get angry very easily, must have run in the family. "I'm just telling you she could have done better, who knows what you could have if you asked for something else."

"Oh yeah. Then what would you give me as a gift?"

Truthfully, he couldn't think of anything, so he said the obvious. "Why would I give you anything?"

Then his face was smashed in by the book his Sister was reading.

As he fell off the bed, he couldn't understand why she'd hit him. "What was that for?!"

"Do you really have to ask why?"

An unprovoked attack, it was something he wouldn't let her off so easily with. "Why you..."

"Shinji, are you bullying your Sister?" He looked behind him and saw his Father standing outside Sakura's bedroom door; he opened it just as when he was going to get his payback.

"Bakuya-san!" She acted as if she was innocent in this mess and ran along to his Father. Was his new family member already turning into the devil? Or was she always like this?

"No! You misunderstand! She hit me first!"

Rubbing his Sisters hair, his Father gave him a light-hearted smile. "Well, I guess it's fine for kids to play whatever way they want to, but don't you think you should give your Sister some space now?" Then he started nudging him towards the bedroom's exit. "Just run along to your room, I have to help Sakura fit into her new home."

"This isn't over!" Since it was his Father telling him this, he couldn't refuse. But he would at least remind her to watch out for him the next time they met.

After a long night, the next day he came up with a contingent and calculated plan to get his revenge against his Sister. He found her in the open hall of the second floor of his home, with her walking towards where he was. So he prepared himself by baiting her in.

"Hey Sakura, I found your clothes lying outside your room, and I wanted to give them back to you but they were stinking so hard..." But she just walked past him.

"...Sakura?" Even when he called out her name again, she just kept walking as if he wasn't even there.

He ran in front of her, grabbed her shoulders, and looked into her eyes. "Sakura, are you ok?!"

Then he noticed her eyes had gone completely dark, to the point he couldn't even see her pupils anymore. Then after a few seconds, he finally got an answer.

"...Yes."

This wasn't her. Even if he only spent a day with her, he knew she would've gotten angry over something he said and started hitting him by now.

"Shinji, you shouldn't bother your Sister." He couldn't inquire anymore since his Father had just appeared. "She's just tired and needs some rest." He pushed him aside from her and nudged him the other way. "Why don't you go to your room and start reading those books I gave you? I'm sure you didn't finish all of them since I only gave you some new ones recently."

He watched as his Father took his Sister back to her room. Unable to follow them, he took his advise and proceeded back to his room.

Despite how hard it was for him to sleep that night, the next day came. This time, his Sister wouldn't even respond to anything he said.

So the next week came, and he couldn't even find her roaming around in the halls anymore.

So the next month came, and all he would ever see is her walking down and up stairs, then back into her room.

Time passed like this, with him never finding out why Sakura didn't talk to him anymore. It troubled him with exhausted days where he couldn't sleep, and eventually, he thought his Sister had given up on him.

"_Oh yeah. Then what would you give me as a gift?_"

He remembered one night there was still something he could do, there was still a way to get Sakura back to how she was before. If that's what had been bothering her, then he just had to give her what she wanted.

"Sakura, I'll make it up you."

Every day after that, he took pages out of the books in his room and started making shapes out of them.

He had failed again and again to make the image he wanted. The books he used all focused on magic which was mostly useless to him, so he started with those, emptied them, and used the other books he had for spares.

It was a regular thing for him to get it wrong, throw it in the garbage, and try again the next day.

He spent most of his time in his room, to the point he forgot what day it was when he continued to struggle on something others found so simple to make. Then the day came he completed the project he worked so effortlessly on.

A paper crane, perfect in the way he wanted it to be, he had formed irregular ones with wing tips that didn't match in size and they would fall down if you tried to make them fly. But this one didn't break when it was sent into the air.

"I guess I should've said sorry back then." With the gift made and the happiness from his achievement satisfied, the problem to tackle now is how to deliver his gift.

Her room always remained locked now, every time she walked out it was always with his Father at night time to someplace downstairs, and then she was dropped off by him back to her room. The only time he could properly meet her then was the place she was taken too.

A time in the night comes when he decided to follow after them, he hid behind corners and ledges to not be seen, and saw the place she was taken to as she walked through some large-uncanny looking doors. Then he waited for when his Father walked out, and proceeded to sneak into the room.

Opening the doors quietly, he whispered. "Sakura, are you here?"

But he heard nothing.

All he could see was stone walls with stairs which descended downwards. It was too dark to see anything properly here, but he heard something wiggling and chirping about; making a sound not pleasant to the ears.

Since there was only one place to go, he went down to where this underground room was leading him, with the disgusting sounds increasing in volume as he went deeper. As his eyes were adjusting to the darkness, he felt something crawling up his shoe.

"Huh?" Looking down he saw a worm.

It's a giant worm,

it's crawling up,

it's getting on top of him,

it's trying to reach him,

it wants to eat him.

"H-he-ehahaaaaaa!" He dropped everything and ran to the exit screaming. Unable to think or react quickly enough, he crashed into someone who was waiting at the doors.

Falling down, he heard a familiar voice. "So this is where you were, Shinji."

His Father stood in front, not even looking at him, but down into the bottom of the underground room. With his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he looked over and saw it as well.

A place covered with worms. No, the more accurate description would be a sea of worms, cluttering and hugging each other, with the wiggling and chirpy voices they made all the more scarier. But the scariest part of it all, was what they were hugging in the center of it.

"Run along to your room, Shinji. I'm sure you have better things to do."

Unable to understand anything, he walked out of the room as the doors closed behind him.

"What was that?" With his voice quivering, he organized his thoughts until he saw the old man at the end of the hall.

"Do you understand now, Shinji?" His raspy voice gave off a creepy vibe, something he noticed long ago but it wasn't needed right now.

"I don't understand."

"You can't fool yourself forever, so I'll tell you now before your delusions take a hold of you."

'Delusions?' What was he talking about?

"Your Sister will be the heir of the Matou family."

Heir? Wasn't he supposed to be the heir?

"From the minute up to your birth, I never expected anything out of you."

Didn't he already say this all before, why was he listening to this?

"I had half expected a child to be weaker than the Magi we had in our family before, but I didn't think he would be completely incapable of sorcery."

He can't listen to him.

"Thanks to your failure of a Father, I had to look for someone else to take up the role of the next head so I didn't embarrass myself when I went to my grave."

He can't listen to him.

"Luckily the Tohsaka family had two capable children, and unable to keep both of them, they lent me one to be adopted."

He can't listen to him.

"You should thank yourself, Shinji. Because of your worthlessness, you didn't have to go through what I had originally planned for you. Instead, your Sister will take your place now."

But it hurts so much.

"Now that you know, you don't have to continue your pathetic attempts at learning Magic." The old man starts walking away. "But don't worry, Shinji. I have plans for you if you wish to remain part of the Matou family." The mad laughter of something inhumane could be heard echoing throughout the halls.

He wasn't able to move until he couldn't hear the thumping of a cane anymore.

After that day his Father never talked to him anymore, his Sister remained like the doll she was, and he forgot about the paper crane he left behind.

Yet, it was all he could ever think about whenever he had to walk along with her back home. This day, it was a bit different since they wouldn't be walking out of the house anytime soon with the Grail War in the horizon.

"Hey Sakura, walk faster." She walked at her slow pace again, and he didn't feel like waiting today for her since he had better things to do then look after her.

And like always, she never listened, she never responded, and she never did what he asked of her.

It's like she forgot he even existed.

"Sakura, do you really want me to do this again to you?" She must have liked it then, considering she couldn't even take a hint that dogs would when they were told to do something after punishment.

A slap to the face ought to have her stop making him waste his time waiting for her to play catch up. So he brought his hand up and...

"I wouldn't do anything you'd regret later." Stopped by someone calling out from behind him.

"What?" Looking behind, he saw a man with tan skin, white hair, and weird red and black clothing.

The red and black man spoke while looking at the thing next to him. "I came to check whether I was too late, but it doesn't look like it has become anything permanent yet."

He talked in the weird ways his family did as well, but why was this guy bothering him now of all times?

"Don't worry, I'm not going do anything to you, but don't you think you went too far?"

Despite his weird attire and tall figure, the pressure he felt from him faded. "And what do you know about me?"

The red and black man took up a wry smile. "I know there's a shabby kid who likes to take everything out on his Sister all the time."

"Hah." So he was making fun of him as well. "Hahaha. Is that all?"

"Do you know what she's done to me? She took my place in my family tree, took my Father away, took who I could have been." The frustration and anger he always wanted to takeout would be thrown at this clueless stranger. "She took everything I had and wanted away from me!"

And he wouldn't just take his snarky remarks without him having a say in it. "So if you think you're so smart, tell me what you would do if some girl came in your house and destroyed everything you had before."

"I wouldn't do anything." A calm voice was his response.

"What?" Did he brush off everything as if it didn't matter?

"You probably won't understand this as of now, but I'll tell you this for your own good." He gave a straight gaze with a serious face. "There's only one thing you're capable of doing. Don't think about what's unnecessary, what isn't needed, and what could've never happened. Just keep looking forward, and you will sooner or later reach it."

"Hah?" Was this guy even living in the same planet as him? "So did you listen to your own advise then?"

He looked down as if talking to himself now. "It's not a choice you make, it's sometimes the only thing you can do. The only difference is how you approach it." Then looking back. "In this case, I'm telling you something you should've known long ago."

It was only now he noticed the sun going down. No doubt the old man and his Father would scold him for coming back to home so late if he didn't start running.

"It's getting late, so you should probably head back now." Even the red and black man caught the worry on his face, and proceeded to walk away from him.

"And don't take that girl as your enemy, she might be the only one you'll ever have."

As an enemy? So he didn't understand anything. She wasn't his enemy, she was simply a thing for him to use. It's not like she ever said anything back to him, or ever resisted. His family didn't care at all what he did to her either so how could she ever be his enemy?

As the red and black figure disappeared off into the distance, there's only one thing he can think of the conversation he had with him.

"What a weirdo."

But somewhere else, a pack of worms moved more erratically than they ever did before.

* * *

><p>It was another dream.<p>

All she could see this time was complete darkness. With only a fragrance of a fire-y light coming out from a small hole in this black world. From where she could see an arm extended out to reach where the light was coming from, an arm as large as hers.

In a way, it was almost funny.

The fear and agitation she first felt when entering into these visions were gone. Instead, she now took the pieces of information she could get, and figured out these dreams belonged someone who was as old as her.

A boy who was caught up in a mess he played no part in. Wandering alone without a home, family, or friends. Surrounded by an inferno which you couldn't tell him apart from. Since he didn't scream, cry, or agonize in pain. He simply wandered about, aimlessly, looking for something to grasp onto.

So it was almost funny to say that she could consider this person a friend, maybe even her best friend had they met. She doesn't know anything about him or what he did before all this, but she saw enough to know their relationship couldn't be compared to what other children had.

She thought maybe these visions were occurring somewhere now in the world she lived in, with the use of magic far ahead of her knowledge, and she'd keep seeing these dreams until she found this boy, or he found her. Regardless of the meaning behind what she saw, she knew she couldn't do anything for him from where she was watching. Maybe in another world...

Her thoughts are interrupted when the boy's arm extended out to the light was grabbed by someone else. She could see more glimpses of light appearing out from the darkness. The black world which was held up by rubble, was being cleared away by a savior.

If she could see herself, she would be smiling. Even after the havoc this boy had endured, he didn't seem like the type to give up in the face of hardship. She was sure he would be able to move on knowing he was given a second chance in life, and that put most of her worries to rest.

She would never have said this before, but she wanted to see where these dreams go. Because now she was curious as to what this boy would do, and what will his future be like. She even thought of treating it as lessons to be put into practice for her life if these dreams were anything to go by. However, she only hoped he would find peace after all he was put through in these few visions she had of him.

Then she saw the face of the one who found him.

A man in all black.

The grim reaper who stalked her that night.

The emotions she had kept within her wanted to burst out.

She can't forget it, even if his clothes were messy and his face covered in dirt; she could still see the cold eyes of a murderer, the very same who took her parents from her. She wanted to shout out, she wanted to push him away from the boy. Every bit of contempt she held in her heart wanted to scream out at the murderer to not touch the child. But she could do nothing. She could only watch through these visions what was about to unfold now, which frustrated her even more knowing she couldn't stop what he was going to do with the boy.

But then the murderer was smiling.

It's not the sinister or wicked kind of distorted smile, it was a smile showing genuine happiness.

Why?

What's he so happy about? Just thinking about it made her want go into a frenzy. Was he responsible for this fire and destruction? Did he also murder his parents and leave him alone in this world? Is he happy because he found a boy he's going to use for his notorious plans in the future?

Even if she could only watch, she would make this promise to herself. When the day she finds him...

"...I'll definitely... huh?"

She woke up on a metal slab inside a dark cellar lit up by candles. A opening in the walls showed her the outsides of what looked like a catacomb, no doubt she was in the church.

"H-ch-ouch!" When she tried to move, intense amount of sharp pain could be felt from her left hand; as if a basket of needles had been punctured into it. As the shock wore off, she took a look at her arm.

Lines in the pattern of a maze, covering and stretching from beneath her hand to halfway down her arm. Sporadically they lighted up in blue-greenish colors. The best way to describe them would be circuits etched onto her arm. Despite how simple it would look to a prying eye, she was stuck in complete amazement. She didn't feel any different other than having the pain in her arm. But she knew what was now a part of her did more than just increase her magical potential. Because it's something only given to the new head of the Tohsaka family.

"So this is a Magic Crest..." After spending a minute more in awe at the gift her parents left her. She looked around to find if anyone else was down here with her. But she already knew from how silent the catacombs were; where you could hear a pin drop from the other side of the room. She was the only person down here.

"And he told me he'd be here by the time I'd wake up..." So it really was just a false promise to cheer her up. "Guess it can't be helped." Maybe her Servant had something better to do then be there for her. At this point, it didn't really matter to her what she lost now. She already lost almost everything she valued in her life, and she realized in this isolated cellar that in the end, she was truly...

'_I didn't __think you__ cared this much Master, I wouldn't have kept myself hidden if __I knew__ your face would turn __this__ sour_.'

"Eh?" She heard his voice, but she's not hearing it from her ears but her... mind?

"Where are you?" She looked around to find no trace of him, but more importantly, how was he speaking to her?

'_I thought you would get used to this by now, but I see you still have a lot to learn._' He materialized with his hands folded, leaning on a wall at the right side of her cellar.

"You were there this whole time?"

The bowman replied with a smile. "Naturally. Despite how I appear, I don't try to break my promises."

"Then... you were here since I was awake, right?"

"I was keeping watch for quite some time, but you don't need to worry about anything happening to you while I was here. I had expected you to wake up much earlier then now, so in the meantime, I kept myself hidden in case of..." It was only now the bowman noticed Rin with her head down and a dark ambiance surrounding her.

"Rin, what's wrong?" The bowman took up his serious stance, on guard for some danger he couldn't spot.

"...You idiot."

"What?" The bowman still didn't understand.

"You idiot.-" She picks up the objects around her. "-You idiot, idiot-idiot-idiot!" And starts throwing them at her Servant.

Despite the harmlessness of his Master's actions, the bowman is forced out of the cellar and had to backpedal to the other side of the catacombs. "Calm down!" While dodging the objects hurled at him, he speaks in a frantic tone. "Think about what you're doing! I don't even know what you're so angry about!"

"You idiot!" Chasing and finding anything she could throw at him, she continues her attack. "Forget everything you saw! Forget everything you heard! And forget everything that happened here!"

"What's wrong with you?! There's no reason for you to be this flustered and you didn't even say anything important! H-he-hey, do you know what you're about to throw right now?!"

A few hours later since their antics; the pair settled down outside the church doors after cleaning up the mess they created.

The bowman started off with a sigh. "What a troublesome Master I have."

"You can't blame me since it's all your fault anyway." It's not like she was expecting him to be right in front of her as soon as she woke up.

Looking around, she saw there was no one in the vicinity of the church but them, and that it was night time with a half moon in the sky. There was also some light fog she never saw before clouding how much she could see off into the distance, but it was something which only existed outside the proximity of the church, her thoughts came to it being part of some bounded field set up by Kirei or his Father.

"Your left arm is hurting isn't it?"

It didn't look like she could ever hide anything from her Servant. "It's nothing I can't handle."

He let out an open palm hand. "Let me have a look."

She placed her arm out towards his gesture. "You aren't going to do anything strang- Ow-ouch!" And when her Servant pressed on her arm and did some strange Magic: The pain reflected as a bag of needles weren't just punctured, but jammed into her nerves. "You could have warned me at least!"

"How about now?" Despite her anger, the bowman kept his calm composure.

"I... don't feel the pain anymore." The lights which sporadically lit up on her Magic Crest, ceased to do so any longer.

"I'd advise you not to use any Magic for the day. It'll take time for your new circuits to adapt to your body before you're able to use them." The bowman started the walk towards the Church gates.

"So we're going home now right? Good." She followed behind her Servant. "Being down there even for just a second was making me feel all sorts of weird."

Opening the gate, he walked in the direction of where her mansion was. "You get used to it. So, you have any questions? This would be the best time for me to answer them."

"What happened to Kirei and his Father? I didn't see them at the church."

"Risei left for some business as soon as I entered the church, while Kirei had to go prepare himself for the ritual."

"Kirei's part of the Grail War?"

"In more ways than one."

"So it started?" She had gotten used to his cryptic way of talking, so there was no point in bringing it up since he wouldn't give straight answers unless she forced him to do so.

"The supervisor announced the beginning of the war hours ago, yet I still don't understand what his plans are." Her Servant looked into alleyways and street corners whenever he could. Sometimes she'd think he was paranoid for no reason until she remembered what happened to her only weeks ago. "But now I'll start off with the important questions. Do you know how to look at a Servant's status?"

"'Servant's status?'" She also just remembered she knows nothing about how this war works either.

"Their Weaknesses, Strengths, Noble Phantasms, Abilities, and all the other basics any Master can tell when they first look at a Servant."

"How am I supposed to know or remember any of that?" She didn't exactly know what a 'Noble Phantasm' was either.

"You're not, or rather, there is an easier way for you to keep track of such information. Try putting your hand on me, closing your eyes, and thinking about me as a Servant."

"Do I really have to think about you?" Her Servant remained unamused by her funny remark. "Fine then."

Holding his arm and concentrating on the image of her Servant, she saw an image not thought out by her, show up in clear picture quality.

"Is this..." There was everything she knew about Shirou there, his class, his abilities, his levels in different power bars. Then there were things completely unknown to her like what his 'Noble Phantasm' was...

"Right, that's the Servant's status screen. Though I don't think you'll be able to grasp it all so easily so take this with you." A book appears in his left hand, which is extended out to be picked up by her.

"There's nothing written here." Taking it and looking inside, all she could see was an empty paperful book. No writings, no marks, no scribbles, not even specks of ink could be found as she flipped through the pages. "Is there some sort of magic behind this?"

"Do you really have to ask? Look at any page and just think about the Servant's for this war."

Taking his advise, her concentration showed her a window pop up with tabs of data everywhere; it was something resembling those things she saw on those 'computers,' as touching on parts of the book opened new pages of information for her.

Of course, everything but the Archer class was empty, since she didn't know who the rest of the Servants were, which confirmed to her that this was only gave her a handy pocket book to record the Servants she'd meet later on.

"Where did you find this?" She doubted her Servant had made the book, and he couldn't have just bought it from a magic store downtown either.

"In your house." The bowman mused.

"You have an odd way of giving things that belong to me then." Since she had no pockets or bags big enough, she carried the book with her hands.

"Does it really matter where it came from? It will probably become useless to you later on, but you can keep it for now since you aren't a recognized Master yet."

While taking a turn to the next block towards her mansion, she glared at her Servant. "What do you mean by 'recognized?'"

The bowman smirked. "Isn't it obvious? This is a battle royale to the death, and you would expect anyone to take a child acting as a Master seriously?"

Now she understood what he was implying. "Are you saying if I was older, you'd have no problems with me?"

"No, I'd probably still have to deal with the fickle parts of your personality. But it would be much better than the start we have now."

"So what do you want me to do then?!" Even if his taunting was obvious, it's something she couldn't stand for. "Do you think I even wanted to be a part of this in the first place?"

"Which brings me to the second question." The smile he gave her before is replaced with a serious gaze. "What is your wish?"

"My wish?"

"You want to be taken seriously don't you? Every Master fighting for the Grail, does so for it to grant a wish for them. So if you want to take your first step to being recognized, you must have a wish to be fulfilled if you truly want to become a winner in this war."

"Then I'd say I have no wish."

"Hoh, then why do you fight?" His stern gaze remained unchanged.

"Didn't I already tell you why? I simply can't let my parent's deaths go unpunished. Especially if the man who killed him is a part of this war."

He narrowed his eyes. "Then you wouldn't even use the Grail to bring back your parents either?"

"No, because that's wrong."

"Wrong?" What she said had surprised him.

"I can't desecrate the dead by having such a selfish wish, and I know it's something my parents wouldn't want either." She realized what her Servant was getting onto. "But what about you, Shirou? You wouldn't be asking me all this unless you had a wish you wanted fulfilled by the Grail, would you?"

"Did you figure it out already?" He started grinning in response. "You're right about Servants having their own wishes for this war. It's stated in the rule book the pair who wins can have both their requests fulfilled. But I don't have a wish."

This time, it was her turn to be surprised. "What do you mean you don't have a wish?"

"I have my goals which need to be completed, but it's something the Grail cannot aid me in."

There are things the wish granting device is unable to do anything for? "Then why are you fighting in this war?"

"Heh, you're misunderstanding something." He returned to his stern gaze. "Did you think the Servants chose to join this war out of their own wills?"

If Shirou wasn't here because he wanted to be, then why would the Grail summon him?

He continued with a malicious smile. "Listen, while Masters are chosen and able to forfeit this ritual whenever they wish, a Servant is simply a tool of war to be used as a weapon." He pointed to her right hand. "Those command seals should be proof enough of the chains that bind us to this war."

"You're wrong." Her Servant was acting like an idiot again.

Keeping that attitude, he went on. "Did you think they would let me go if you used up all you're command seals back then? You should know by now they would simply find someone else-"

"No! You're wrong about being just a tool!"

There were things she could yield too, but this was not one of them.

"Didn't Servants have their own lives and hopes before they were a part of this war? Weren't you the one trying to cheer me up when I thought there was nothing I could do? Are you telling me you don't even think of yourself as a human?!"

The bowman loses his smile and can't respond.

Or maybe he does not need to respond.

It was quiet as she walked by another familiar street, it wouldn't be long before they would finally reach the mansion and settle down while they could before the war threw their lives upside down. She had many questions which still needed to be answered, but she started with the one that had been bugging her the most.

"Hey Shirou, about your story..."

Her Servant stopped in his tracks while putting his hand in front of her. Looking ahead, she saw the outer mansion gates with someone standing outside, the figure being illuminated by a street light.

While her Servant remains quiet, she called out. "Who are you?"

The mysterious person then took a notice of them, but his face was covered by a hood, making him unrecognizable to her, until she hears the voice.

"Rin."

It couldn't be him could it? Why would he be here now of all times? Unless he was...

Then she saw her Servant take up an aggressive stance in front of her. "I expected him to come for a visit, but I didn't think he would be back this soon."

"Wait... you can't be..."

It's impossible, there's no way he'd be a part of this. He told her a long time ago he left the Matou family for good. So how could she have heard his voice just now?

"Rin, you don't know? It's me!"

He takes off his hood, and it's the face of someone she doesn't know. It was only a year ago she last saw him with her Mother, she remembers the gift he gave her and his disturbed attitude for what happened to her Sister. But what could have happened to him for his hair to turn white, his skin bulging around his right eye; which turned pale blue and looked to be completely blind. Could this really be...

"...Uncle Kariya?"

* * *

><p>(Servants will be revealed through Rin Tohsaka's, and Kiritsugu Emiya's POV for now):<p>

Class: Archer

Master: Rin Tohsaka

Sex: Male

Alignment: Neutral

Strength: D

Endurance: C

Agility: C

Magical Energy: C

Luck: E

Noble Phantasm: ?

Class Skills:

Magecraft: C-

Class Abilities:

Magic Resistance: D

Independent Action: B

* * *

><p>AN:

This one took me too long to get out, but I finally managed to write it down. If I had one thing to say about this chapter to summarize it: It would be my writing style has improved tremendously, hopefully that's showing here. You can thank my betareader for it, but this chapter wasn't betaread (just me learning from experience) as I'm still working on re-writing my old chapters.

As you can probably guess, next chapter is going to have a fight scene, and it's not hard to figure out who the contestants are. But man, if there was one thing which bothered me a lot when I was writing this chapter, is how depressing it was to write Shinji's POV. I had to take a giant break as soon as I finished writing his story before I went back to Rin's POV since I didn't want to feel down when I was writing her part of the story.

When I was writing Shinji's story, I did research his background and found I have quite a few liberty's to portray him for scenes you wouldn't normally see him in since the Matou children get absolutely shafted in F/Z for it's more important parts, but not in this fanfic. You guys can probably see where I'm going with this story but it's not going to be as simple as you think it is with the Matous.

Also, from now on, questions involving the fanfic will be answered through PM's instead of having them clog up my author notes; since I found it much easier to just tell the person in question what they're asking for instead of having them be word fillers that aren't required here. Hope you guys can understand my reasoning behind that (if not I'll just expand it in my PM's to you, hehe). And on an important point: Rin managed to get Archer's Magical Energy up to C, but she'll never have a fully restored Archer as her Servant because she's simply not at that age yet.

So ending this A/N on a fanfic related note, has anyone thought up of a good name for the fourth Holy Grail War – Rin/Archer team? The best I can think of is 'Team Underestimated' but I'm pretty sure you guys can do better.


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